A New Life
by KennethRose
Summary: James White; a normal teenager. The universe and Cerberus has larger plans for him however, and he finds himself pulled into the ME universe. Not an SI. Better summary inside. OC-centric: main OC/Jack, with some Shep/Liara on the side. Enjoy!
1. Entry 0000001

**A New Life**

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or universe; so all rights belong to Bioware and affiliated companies.

**Rating: **M – Language, sex-related themes, and violence.

**Plot: **James White; a normal teenager in virtually every single way. Unfortunately the universe and Cerberus has larger plans for him, and within moments he finds himself sucked into the Mass Effect universe as a walking, talking experiment that was lucky to survive the things embedded within him. Follow James as he fights for justice, finds love, and finally accepts belonging.

**Pairing: **OC/Jack

**Warnings: **AU, OOC.

**A/N: This is _not_ a SI. A shout out goes to Herr Wozzeck; author of Mass Vexations, and Demon Spartan; author of Semper Fi - they were an inspiration.**

* * *

_Life is an absolute bitch sometimes._

_Three weeks ago I was very nearly pissing myself in fear because my final exams were coming up… and I hadn't done the faintest little bit of study… for any paper at all. Three weeks ago, I was busy procrastinating said study by looking up the best price for another ATI 6870 graphics card that I could put in Crossfire with the other one I brought six months ago - because let's face it, 1 gig of graphics just isn't enough to handle the best games these days. If you're interested, I found one for a bargain $280 delivered to my very doorstep._

_Two weeks ago my exams begun; triggering nervousness and moments where I wished that I hadn't in fact procrastinated with my schoolwork and study. It started off well enough with English, which I'm damn good at, not to toot my own horn or anything, but due to the exams that followed... well, the two weeks that I sat my papers quickly deteriorated into a veritable 'hit-head-against-hard-surface-repetitively' sort of moment in my life._

_One day ago I sat my last exam - biology paper 3 I thought you ought to know - and later that night I sat down in a restaurant with sixteen of my fellow classmates and my physics, biology, and chemistry teachers whereupon we dissolved the teacher-student relationships and switched to a far more comfortable, and entertaining, ex-student and teacher relationship. To be quite honest I enjoyed that dinner far more than I expected I would; just reminiscing on all the good times, the good ol' days where we were so innocent and didn't expect the world to take us and toss us around like we were in a washing machine. _

_Twenty hours ago I was sitting in my computer chair, cracking my knuckles with a maniacal grin on my face; my shoulders free of the burdens of another exam the next day, and with nine weeks of holidays stretching out in front of me. My high school career was over; I had just purchased the Kasumi DLC for Mass Effect 2; I had installed a new six-core CPU and had overclocked it to 4.1 GHz; and my new graphics card and cross-fire compatible motherboard was in the mail. _

_One hour ago I had successfully romanced Jack, and had shared a beautifully intimate moment with her that went against all the 'badass' she is portrayed as being, and left me feeling mushy inside. _

_Fifteen minutes ago Miranda had told the Illusive Man to shove his 'keep the collector ship so we can study it and do some secret shit' plan where the sun don't shine. Ten minutes ago the credits had started rolling and I had sat back in my chair feeling tired, drained, but wonderfully contented and liberated; for me it was the start of the rest of my life; the end of an era of education that had consisted of thirteen years._

_Nine minutes ago I had felt a tug on my navel and had wondered if the fact I hadn't eaten for approximately twenty hours hadn't, in fact, been such a good idea, but that theory had been metaphorically tossed in the waste-basket before I even had time to ponder over previous experiences regarding lack of food. The reason for this was that I couldn't move, everything around me had disappeared into darkness saves the credits still rolling on my computer screen, and the music blasting into my ears from my headphones was no longer music - instead sounds of a rushing wind was most prominent around me._

_Seven minutes ago, after watching the screen come closer, and closer, and closer, I felt like I was being squeezed through a pipe the size of a pinhead. Pain tore through my entire body; as if I was being ripped apart by forces on all sides, but my lungs had no air to expel in order to let loose a scream._

_Five minutes ago, or at least that's what if felt like, the pain had stopped, and I found myself sprawled out in the middle of a very expensive-looking kitchen with haptic interfaces gently glowing in the dim light that allowed me to see._

_Four minutes ago I picked up the pad that I'm writing this on, and that fact that it was, and is, disturbingly identical to the data-pads in Mass Effect 2 did not, and has not escaped me._

_Right now, I'm seeing just how ironic this whole situation is; just last night I spent time looking back on the good ol' days with my classmates, friends, and teachers… and now last night, according to this data-pad's auto-entry feature, was 168 years, 2 months, 10 days, and 16 hours ago._

_Which begs the question: just what the fuck happened?_


	2. Whirlwinds of Change

Andrew White stared down at the data pad in his hand and then pinched himself a couple more times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. His arm by this point was a mess of red welts where he'd done the exact same thing multiple times as he typed - but he was hardly concerned about how he looked at that point. After several minutes of just staring around him at the huge apartment he finally stepped away from the counter and tried to take his first step - tried being the operative word. He found himself lurching forwards as he overpowered the movement and let out a curse as he saw the ground coming up to meet him; his face twisting into a look of mixed shock and annoyance. After finding himself lying on the ground once more he stared across at one of the haptic panels and decided that it was worth a go.

"VI, where am I?"

He nearly sobbed in despair when he saw a holographic green ball appear, but managed to get over his self-imposed pity-party long enough to listen to the reply of, "You are in Apartment 212, Presidium Complexes, The Citadel."

The young blonde stared at the glowing orb before groaning and pushing himself upwards so that his back was against the bench in the middle of the kitchen. "Right," he muttered as he carefully got to his feet, making sure not to overpower his step, "and this is a Cerberus facility, is it not?"

"That is correct," came the reply from the hologram; its surface flashing as it spoke, and Andy nodded before making his way cautiously to sit on the couch in the lounge area he could see; the VI popping up on another terminal when he moved so that he could still see it.

Sinking into the leather he gave a sigh and buried his head in his hands; rubbing his eyes and gathering himself. It took nearly an hour for him to come to the very basic conclusions and organize the questions he wanted answered, but the VI was very patient with him and allowed him the silence to ponder his situation. Finally sitting back with a sigh his eyes sharpened and he nodded to himself. "Okay, first things first - were you told to tell me anything?"

"Yes Mister White. An Operative will be arriving in four hours with a package containing your identification, and a clean chip for your Omni-tool."

Andy nodded again and looked down at his wrist, noticing the small, almost invisible marking on the skin about the size a sim-card would be back on Earth… over one hundred and fifty years ago. "What modifications have been made to my body, and how long have I been here in this apartment?"

"That data is confidential," replied the VI, and Andrew scowled at the eerie green orb, "but you have been in this apartment for twenty two hours, fifteen minutes and thirty nine seconds."

"Alright then." He looked around the room and stood up again, this time smoothly and without having to regulate the energy he put into the movement. His first steps were tentative as he got used to the extra energy he seemed to possess, and he climbed the stairs to the second storey. At the top he looked into a luxurious bedroom that overlooked the rest of the apartment, and raised an eyebrow when he saw the fish tank, desk, terminal, and bed… all very reminiscent of the Captain's Cabin on the Normandy SR-2. "VI, what are you called?"

"I have the assignment Mel."

"Wonderful, Cerberus seems to have a penchant for three-lettered names," he muttered under his breath as he walked around the room and peered at the various futuristic objects. Twisting the dial on his alarm clock he found there to only be three different music choices and groaned when he heard that they were all the same, repetitive club music that he had grown accustomed to in the _game_ whenever he was in Afterlife on Omega. "Mel, can I upload more music to my clock if I so wish?"

"Yes, Mister White."

"Fantastic, because if I have to put up with that bloody music for over an hour I'll go freaking mental."

"Your psychological profile does not indicate any markers of dementia or neural decay, Mister White."

Andrew shook his head despondently before sitting down in front of the terminal and looking at the glowing interface. "I assume this terminal is connected to the Extranet?"

"Yes, Mister White."

He looked at the window that was open in front of him and rolled his eyes at the username and password prompt; this was getting ridiculous. Turning back around to glare at the still-present green orb he gave a small scowl. "Any queries I have for the Extranet you can answer for me, correct?"

"Correct Mister White; this platform has been upgraded with a communications link to the extranet."

Knowing that he was in Cerberus' company he carefully navigated his way to the topic of Shepard under the guise of wanting to know about important people in the current universe, and after nearly two hours of expanding his knowledge of the citadel in far more detail than was available in the Codex on the game, he finally got to the person he wanted.

"Okay, what is the history and current status of Commander… Shepard of the Alliance?"

"Commander John Shepard," the VI replied after a minute pause, "born on April 11th 2154 CE on Earth. Joined the Alliance Military at eighteen years of age-"

"What is Commander Shepard's most notable mission?" Andy interrupted, and he grinned when the hologram replied with, "Commander Shepard repelled an attack on Elysium by Batarian Slavers almost singlehandedly; saving his entire squad from death. He was injured heavily on the mission, but not one colonist or human died because of his actions. He was awarded the Violet Star for his actions at the colony."

"Paragon," he muttered under his breath, and then turned back to the hologram. "Okay, then - now what am I doing here?"

"That information is classified," repeated the VI again, and Andy gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Well too fucking bad. Do I have a contact that I can establish a communication link with?"

"Negative, Mister White."

Rolling his eyes he stood up and walked towards a large, metallic-looking wardrobe and opened it…

"Holy shit…" he breathed with wide eyes when he saw what was inside, and he carefully reached forward to pick up the smallest weapon of the lot.

"That is an M5-Phalanx, Mister White."

"Yeah, I know," he muttered under his breath, and he looked it over before placing it back where it belonged and looked at the other weapons. "What are the rest of the weapons?"

"The weapon occupying slot 2 is an M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle, slot 3 is an M-24 Katana Shotgun, slot 4 contains an M-29 Incisor, and slot 5 contains your armour which is Light Crisis Armour."

Andy looked at the armour in question and grinned at its appearance, and he was thanking the heavens above that there weren't any Cerberus logos anywhere; apparently they didn't want people knowing who he was affiliated with. "Mel, would you please load up a tutorial on how to put on the armour?"

"Of course Mister White."

For the next half an hour Andy practiced putting on and taking off the armour in question until he knew how to do it by heart, and the next hour after that was spent learning how to operate the weapons that he at that point had magnetized to his back, and his pistol on his thigh. His excitement at playing with his new toys however, disappeared very suddenly when he heard a crash from downstairs followed by yells, and then a muted pop and a flash that had his ears ringing and lit up the bottom floor for a moment. Footsteps quickly followed, and Andy grabbed one of the thermal clips on his armour and slammed it into place on his pistol and his assault rifle before bringing up the former and crouching with his back up against the wall that would hide him from view of the stairs. A couple of seconds later and a head appeared, and Andy stood up calmly, pressed the muzzle of the pistol the bare neck of the man who had an assault rifle in his hands, and then released the safety with an audible blip.

"Drop your weapon," he said coldly, and the man did just that; his gun clattering to the ground a second later and his expression filled with shock, and a little bit of fear. There was a yell from the bottom of the stairs and Andy quickly turned his body so that he was behind his assailant. Looking down he saw two more armoured, gun-wielding men, and he gave a scowl before plucking the M-96 Mattock from the back of the man in front of him and sliding it onto his own back; disposing of the far-less dangerous assault rifle that had been on his own back a moment before. He took the sniper rifle as well when he saw that it was his favourite weapon of Mass Effect 2; the M-92 Mantis. After a moment a bark of laughter came from one of the men at the bottom of the stairs, and the eighteen year-old blonde looked down in surprise.

The man in question was grinning up at him and holstering his assault rifle, "Brilliant!" he yelled up to him, "I was told to expect a runt that knew next to nothing about combat!"

"I don't," Andy shot back, "in fact, I've been told by this bloody VI that everything I want to know is classified - like what the hell I'm here for, why the hell I feel so much stronger, and why it feels as if there's a fuzzing beneath my skin, so maybe you could enlighten me."

The man held up a small box and Andy cocked his head. "Omni-chip," the man explained. Andy lowered the pistol a fraction with narrowed eyes.

"You're the Cerberus contact?"

"Yep!" was the chipper reply, and Andy rolled his eyes before thinking for a moment and then pressing the muzzle back into the neck of the man in front of him.

"Tell me what they've stuck in my body and then we can talk like civilised human beings, yeah?"

The man shrugged, "Sure, but I was instructed to tell you anyway - there's no need to hold a gun to Harry's neck."

Andy shot the man a dry look, "Well excuse me if I didn't expect a flash grenade to come flying in through my front door and then be stormed by three armed soldiers."

The man grinned again, and nodded. "Can't fault you there kid. Cerberus has outfitted you with a few… upgrades," he explained, and the teen shot him a small glare.

"No shit, tell me something I can't figure out."

"Okay then smart-arse," shot back the still-grinning man, "you've been under the knife for over ten weeks."

"…you're kidding, right? What the hell takes ten weeks to complete?"

"An experiment," came the too-jovial reply, and Andy scowled again.

"An experiment? What the hell am I, a guinea pig?"

The man gave him an odd look, "A what?"

"A- you know what? Never mind, just what the hell did they do?"

The soldier pulled a chair over from the kitchen bench while the other one went over to the door and stood guard next to it. "Well, they used Nano-tech to convert all of your muscles into cybernetic fibres, as well as reconstruct your skeleton and replace it with mass-treated carbon-fibre." Andy looked at the man in shock before looking at the fingers he had clutched around the grip of the pistol with a sense of wonder. "Oh they're not visibly noticeable," assured the solider with a grin, "but you _are_ the first person to ever survive the skeletal procedure; every other patient has died as soon as the skull begins to change; you know, brain haemorrhages and all." Letting out a bark of laughter at the expression on the teen's face he continued with his explanation. "You went through some DNA modification, also highly experimental, for reflexes, healing and the like, and then we inserted a sub-dermal infiltrator layer before treating your skin with some more nanotechnology to make it tougher."

"It doesn't feel any different," commented the youth, "if it was tougher I'd expect it to feel-"

"Rougher?" interrupted the seated soldier, "Most people do expect that, but it's a load of bollocks. It strengthens the makeup, but keeps virtually all of the characteristics of normal skin cells."

"Right," nodded Andy, this time allowing his pistol to drop to his side. Ignoring the sigh of relief from behind him as he walked down the stairs he took a seat on the couch he had vacated earlier and sat back - his eyes still fixed on the burly man who had been explaining everything to him. "You mentioned a sub-dermal implant. I'm assuming you're referring to an invisibility cloak of sorts."

"That's right," the man confirmed, "if you're just walking around at the time it can work for up to three minutes, but when you throw in adrenaline rushes, combat situations, reflex enhancement, shielding, and biotics then you're down to about fifteen seconds with a thirty second cool down time."

"Biotics," Andy said dryly, and the man's grin reappeared full-force.

"That's why you're so bloody lucky you're still alive kid; with all the tech you're made up of it _never_ works, but for some reason your biotics seem to work in tandem with everything else. It's something that even the scientists can't understand."

"Great, just fucking great," he groaned as he buried his head in his hands again, "please for the love of _God_ tell me that I'm normal in some way?"

"Well… you can still shit and piss like the best of us," quipped the man standing guard by the door, and his grin only widened when Andy sent him a vicious glare.

"So really," Andy summed up as he turned back to the apparent leader of the group, "the only thing that's the same is my brain." Looking slightly nervous the man sent him a lopsided grin and the blonde glared. "Okay, what the hell did they do to my brain?"

"Just some nanotech," he replied vaguely.

"That'd better not be synonymous with 'control chip'," snarled the teen, and the soldier shook his head immediately.

"Naw, nothing like that; just some enhancements to prevent neural decay and speed up synapse transmission. Biotics are naturally immune to the former, but they just wanted to be sure."

Andy sighed and stood up before pacing, and then freezing before sending the man a glare, "No more additions?"

"Ehhh… well your eyes are cybernetic now."

"Fuck you."

The man grinned, "Now now, keep your hair on."

"Is it still my hair? You come in here and tell me that I'm essentially _not_ me anymore and expect me to be calm? I'm the furthest from calm I think I can possibly be!"

"Well it's done now," shot back the grinning man, "so stop your moping." He opened the small box and threw Andy a small chip, and the youth scowled as he caught it, but still pressed it to the small indent in his left wrist. The skin seemed to liquefy and then cover it until only smooth skin was left, and a second later a holographic interface burst into existence. "That's your link to the extranet, where available, and other features such as-"

"Hacking, personal features, the codex, and suit and weapon monitoring - yeah, I know." The man looked impressed and watched as Andy tapped away for several minutes. When he saw the progress bar of a download shoot across the screen he raised an eyebrow, but then laughed aloud when some Old Earth Rock came out of the interface and the youth's face took on a gleeful grin. After some more tapping he froze and then looked at his arm in shock, and then back to the readout he was seeing. "This… what kind of specs are this Omni-tool running?"

"Ah, you noticed did you? That there's the latest development from HMOT; the Master X Omni-tool with enhanced shield, tech, and medical recharge features. It's running a tri-quantum core for faster hacking, and 1 Exabyte of storage for programs and-"

"Okay, I think I've heard enough…" interrupted Andy looking rather pale, and he sat down again before taking in a very, very deep breath to gather his thoughts. "Okay, now that I know what's changed, and what I'm packing, what am I here to do? I mean, Cerberus isn't going to spend however many credits they did on me and expect nothing in return, so what the hell do they want?"

The soldier's joking demeanour disappeared almost instantly, and Andy did so as well when he felt the atmosphere change. "Cerberus wants you trained up, trained up _big_ time. They want you to be the best you can be, and then they want you to go freelance."

"You're pulling my leg - you've got to be."

"I assure you I'm not."

Andy stared at the man for several very long seconds before replying, "And what if, in the future, I decide to go against Cerberus? They could be training the enemy for all they know - isn't this just a tad _against_ the caution that Cerberus normally displays?"

The soldier shrugged, "I don't know why they're doing this, but the Illusive Man seems to trust you, so it's my job to train you in combat, Steven's job," he jabbed his thumb at the man standing by the door, "to train your biotics, and Harry'll be getting you up to speed with your infiltration tactics and tech."

"So I've had a couple of million credits spent on me, now you're going to give me what… three years training, and then you'll just turn me loose? No restrictions or obligations?" The man grinned and nodded, and Andy shook his head before sinking back into his chair with a deep sigh and then rubbing his eyes. "Seems almost too good to be true."

"You'll get used to that."

The blonde gave a chuckle and nodded. "Right."

After several seconds of silence the man stood up and walked over to stand in front of him, and Andy looked up to see a grin on the soldier's face. Seeing the offered hand he shook it. "My name's Aiden - and if what I've seen today is any indication I'll enjoy working with you."

The teen grinned in return and stood up, still gripping the man's hand. "You already know, but I'm Andy White - I'm sure I'll enjoy being trained by you and your team."

The man grinned and nodded, "Likewise kid." They finally relinquished the handshake and Aiden walked with his team towards the door. Just before it hissed shut behind him however, the red-haired soldier turned his head over his shoulder and grinned ferally, "Get some sleep kid; tomorrow you're going to need it."

Andy looked at the now-red circle that signalled that the room was locked and he shook his head with a groan before trudging back up towards his bedroom. "What the hell did I do to deserve this crap?"

* * *

With rounds whizzing over his head, flash bangs making his ears ring painfully, concussion grenades pounding through his body, and biotic warps smashing brutally against his cover, Andy White was a very, very pinned down young man. Contrary to what most people would be doing in his situation however, Andy was not pissing himself in fear, nor, in fact, was he whimpering or showing any signs of distress at all - no, Andy was reminiscing on his life so far in the Universe over one hundred and sixty years ahead of the one he was born in.

Ever since that first meeting with Aiden, Harry, and Steven, Andy had been trained in every single method of combat the 'verse had to offer; from stealth to biotic assault to battlefield tactics and even hand-to-hand combat for a couple of months. It had taken him a year of self-study for him to pick up even the basics of how the technology of the modern Universe worked, but as soon as he had them down his work on the subject had come in leaps and bounds. Of course he'd kept that skill rather hush-hush; studying it at the Citadel Information Centre to hide it from his benefactors in fact, and all because he'd had a rather nasty hunch that his Omni-tool contained a virus designed to monitor all aspects of his life. It took him until half-way through the second year of his training for him to actually isolate the program and then set it up so that it fed false intelligence to Cerberus, but the wait had been worth it in his opinion.

Of course coming into a new universe wasn't all exciting and happy times; Andy had spent every night for the first two months in the Citadel getting over the fact that his family was dead, as were all of his friends, and in fact every single person he knew in his old life. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he had thrown tantrums at his situation; he doubted anybody else in his situation would've, or could've, done much better. According to records he had dug up he was now technically the great, great, great, great grandfather to ten children; his sister having married at twenty nine years old and having two kids. He had missed her wedding, and his parents' funerals, and all of the memories that most people had in their lives - and that had hit him hard. After six months of silent depression he had finally taken a walk down to Chora's Den and gotten himself abysmally drunk with Steven, as well as having a rather fantastic romp with an Asari that had caught his eye - and with that one night he had put his past behind him and focussed on the future.

When he had said that getting all of his powers was too good to be true he had been right, of course. All of the tech they'd stuffed inside of him wasn't without consequence, although none of it was painful at least. His diet was huge, and he was easily able to put away a couple of kilograms of food at each meal, with equal amounts of fluid, although a program he had constructed for his Omni-tool, coupled with a neural link to his biotic implant, allowed him to control his powers and such with enough accuracy that he could walk around without any of the enhancements, and then with a mere thought activate what he called 'battle-mode'.

Which was what he was in right now; with shotgun rounds, sniper bullets, and grenades hammering his position ruthlessly. He'd had a feeling that Steven had been pulling his leg, and now he had his proof; because running into the middle of the Blue Suns' headquarters on Omega was _not_ a 'cool club to go to; just go in there and tell them that Steven Hawkins sent you'. The moment the name had left his lips he'd been on the receiving end of some pretty serious hardware, and for the past two hours he'd been slowly decimating their forces. Reaching into his pocket he tore the top of the package and sucked the concoction inside down his throat before hiffing it over the top of the now-very dented container he was hankered down behind. There was an increase in gunfire a second later and Andy had the stray thought that if that piece of plastic was him he'd be Swiss cheese right about now.

Taking a deep breath he activated the sub-dermal implant and then stepped out from behind his cover before charging at the group of seven Krogan that had been firing at him, and were still doing so. As soon as he was close enough he reached deep inside and pulled his biotics to the surface; charging a singularity from the dark energy he was drawing from the environment around him. The moment he started manipulating the energy however, his body lit up like a Christmas tree and the surviving Blue Suns channelled their fire onto him. His shields flared a brilliant blue as they absorbed the rounds, and just as they ran out; flaring once to signal their demise, Andy let go of the ball of blackness; releasing it right into their midst. A searing pain carved itself into his chest and blasted the air out of his lungs, and he collapsed back into one of the crates as he watched his attackers get lifted off their feet and twirled around the miniature black hole. Manipulating the field directly he caused it to detonate, and winced as they were all vaporised with a blindingly white blast.

He looked down at his shoulder and gave a scowl at the hole that had been punched through it; a lucky round just as his shields had failed having hit him there, and quickly slathered some medigel on it, as well as the large gash across his chest where a bullet had carved its way through his skin and armour. Looking around at the near-hundred dead Blue Suns he gave a deep sigh and then pulled himself to his feet before heading to the door that still had the glowing-red orb hovering at its centre. It took him all of five seconds to dismantle the locking mechanism, and with a pneumatic hiss it slid open… to reveal Steven sitting on a deck chair eating popcorn. "Fuck you," Andy snarled when he caught sight of his teacher, and said man grinned and stood up; giving him a once-over.

"Wow, you took a beating!"

"Get me to a goddamn doctor right now or I'll kill you."

The grinning mercenary held up his hands disarmingly when the twenty one year old pulled up his pistol. "Righto, we're going."

It was a bit of a walk, but they finally reached Mordin's Clinic and Andy had the pleasure of being in the hyperactive Salarian's company for the third time during their stay on Omega. As soon as the Salarian caught sight of the injured soldier he gave a sigh and then hauled him onto the table. "Gunshot wound to right tricep, regeneration is restoring muscle tissue at accelerated rate; wound on chest, dermal damage… both will leave scars, yes." With a small jab Andy found the pain disappearing as painkillers made their merry way through his system, and he grinned as the endorphins reached his brain… which was why he didn't give Steven's, "Well this is it Andy; your training is _done_ - you've surpassed all of us, easily so," as much attention as it was due at first.

"Oh, well that's grea- hold on, what?"

The mercenary leaning in the doorframe smiled, "You heard me kid; we're done. Cerberus hired us because we're the best in our fields, and we can keep a secret, and it's been three years. The Blue Suns were your last test."

Andy stared at the man, his mouth slightly agape. "That's it? You're saying 'cheerio' and 'might see ya 'round' just like that?"

"You knew the deal kid," reprimanded the man, "we're weapons for hire. All of us respect you, but none of us are friends - hell, Aidan and Harry are normally my competition and we're shooting at each other. I will admit that the three years we've trained you has been a welcome break from all the mercenary work, but its high time we all got back into it, and you're ready to get out there on your own anyway."

"Well how the fuck am I going to get off this rock?"

"You're taking this better than I thought you would," commented the dark-haired biotic.

Andy rolled his eyes and sat up, ignoring Mordin's protests. "I guess I've been preparing myself for this for a while - though I expected to have some notice at least."

He got a shrug in return, "Well life's a bitch. Cerberus has set you up with a ship that's waiting in the docks - the codes have been sent to your Omni-tool." A quick check by the recently trainee-turned-freelance confirmed what Steven had said, and the latter gave a grin before stepping forwards and holding out his hand. "With all that said and done, I've enjoyed our little escapades."

Sighing resignedly Andy shook the man's hand with his good arm and nodded with a small smile. "It has been fun." Retrieving his hand he sat back on the hospital bed and cocked his head to the side. "Where _are_ Aiden and Harry?"

"Gone," explained the merc, "neither of them are big on goodbyes."

"Right," drawled the blonde, "pussies."

Both snorted with laughter and Steven gave him a nod. "Well this is goodbye for the time being I guess. We'll probably catch each other sometime, and hopefully it's not on the battlefield against each other."

"Too true," agreed the young man, "too true." The two sunk into a silence for several seconds before Andy stood up and smiled. "Well I guess this is where we split ways and I try and find a pilot, in fact I think I have just the man for the job."

"Well good for you," chuckled Steven as they walked towards the exit of the clinic. They kept together until they reached the trading floor, and, ignoring the crazy Batarian blathering on about how humans were the blight of the galaxy, shook each other's hands one last time before separating, likely to never see each other ever again.

Andy was surprised at just how easy it was to accept that fact; that the only constant company for the last three years was gone, but shook it off after a moment before making his way down to the entrance to Lower Afterlife. Just to the left of the door was a small store where a Quarian was working on some spare parts, and Andy leant on the counter and watched the man work for a moment. The mechanic caught sight of him before he could make comment, and stopped working immediately before holding out his arms. If a mask wasn't covering his face Andy was sure he'd be seeing a beaming smile at that moment. "Kronos! It's been ages since you came by!"

Andy found his cover name to be oddly ironic, and to be honest he doubted the Illusive Man had chosen the name with no idea of what it meant. His first name had stayed the same, to aid in the transition of identities, but his last name still threw him occasionally. Time indeed.

Andy took the offered hand and shook it with a warm smile, "Kar'Shaal, it has been a while. How's business?"

The Quarian's shoulders drooped and he let out a sigh before leaning on the counter and looking over his shoulder. "I'm barely getting by just paying for food, and I sleep here to keep costs down - all the scraps I get are in worse condition than a Varen's chew toy."

Andy stifled a laugh and looked at the suited man that was standing, rather depressed, in front of him. "Hey Kar, you're a pilot, yeah?" The Quarian turned his attention back to the young freelancer and nodded, clearly confused, and Andy sent him a grin. "Well ain't that just fancy - I just happen to be in need of a pilot for my new ship."

Andy was sure the mechanic was gaping at him. "Y-you want me to be your pilot?" He got a happy nod in return, and then he pointed over his shoulder, "But… but that means that I don't need to stay here anymore…"

"And you're upset about that? C'mon Kar, get your stuff and come with me."

"…you're not pulling my arm, are ya Kronos?"

"Nah," Andy grinned, "'course not. I'm done with what I came here to do, and now I need a good, stable, and friendly pilot that isn't corrupt to come into business with me as a freelance mercenary."

The Quarian stopped his hurried packing and looked over his shoulder uneasily. "Mercenary work? I don't know Kronos…"

Andy could see the problem immediately. "You think you'll be morally conflicted? I'm not your normal freelance mercenary Kar; I only do missions that I think are for the right reasons, and if you come along then I'll consult you before taking any jobs, how does that sound?"

Twenty minutes later the two were walking along the docks; the blonde walking along with his omni-tool guiding him to his ship. The two finally came to a stop, and both of them stared at the vessel in front of them with matching looks of shock - although both of them had their expressions hidden behind their masks. "Kronos?"

"Uhuh?"

"Is that your ship?"

"Yep…"

"Fuuuuck…" came the breathy exclamation, and Andy could only nod his head in agreement.

They both entered at the same time after getting over their shock, and after several seconds in the air-lock they entered the ship proper. They found themselves standing at the helm of the massive ship, at least by civilian standards, and Kar'Shaal gaped at the interfaces in the cockpit. While the Quarian was drooling over the navigational equipment and finding out just what the ship was capable of Andy found his feet taking him to the back of the ship; past the minimalist desk that sat three meters back from the pilot's seat that was clearly meant for him as the ship's commander; past the small galaxy map behind that, and then through the doors underneath the stairs.

He looked into the crew-quarters and had the thought that _his_ crew got it way better than Shepard's would on the Normandy SR-2. Four single beds were arranged around the room, and each of them had a small bedside table on one side, and a desk on the other; complete with a terminal and enough space for some personal belongings. There was a door that led to the shower and toilet cubicles, of which there were two each, and Andy shook his head with a wide grin before returning to the main deck and going into the other door, which hissed open to reveal the armoury… outfitted with the shittiest weapons and armour available. _'I'll have to make a supply run and sell off what I've got to make room for some actual hardware,'_ he thought as he retreated back onto the helm. He then turned his attention to the steps leading downwards and after looking over his shoulder to make sure that his new pilot wasn't passed out from over-exposure to top-of-the-line ship features he headed downwards. He came out into a deck that was about three-quarters the length of the one above - around ten meters long.

He peered through at the kitchen and small-yet-cosy dining area, meandered into the mini med-bay, and then behind him, through the doors and into the engineering area which also housed the mass-effect core; a large sphere that pulsed with blue energy. After returning to the kitchen to check if it was fully supplied he returned to the main deck and looked over at Kar who was sitting down in the pilots chair and bouncing happily on the cushioning. Considering that John Shepard had just died on the SSV Normandy Andy didn't have the faintest idea of what to do, and let out a sigh before freezing, and then getting a devious grin on his face. "Hey Kar, set course for Illium would you? We've got an appointment with a certain Asari."

The Quarian spun around in his seat and cocked his head, "An Asari? Not your girlfriend now, is it?"

Rolling his eyes he paused mid-way up the stairs that he hadn't yet explored. "No, Kar, it's not my girlfriend - but it's a job that'll make this whole galaxy a lot safer for a lot of people… and it'll get us loaded."

"Aye Commander," saluted the pilot dryly, and as Andy continued up the stairs chuckling he had the thought that his pilot and Joker would get along splendidly. When he finally arrived at the landing above his omni-tool flashed momentarily and the red orb disappeared to allow him entrance. He raised his eyes at the large bed, desk, and storage space inside and gave a small laugh when he entered his private bathroom and saw the luxuriousness of it; hell, it matched his bathroom on the Citadel. He carefully took off his armour and dumped it in the evacuation chute where it was promptly ejected into space and changed into a pair of underwear he found in one of the drawers. Cerberus had, apparently, thought of damn near everything. After dressing in a pair of comfortable jeans, a pair of black leather shoes, and a light green t-shirt he made his way back onto the bridge and headed up to where Kar was piloting the ship.

"How's she handling?"

"Like a _dream_," the Quarian said breathily, "hell, I knew it was coming and I didn't even feel the transition from being still to engaging the FTL drives. We'll be hitting the first relay in around three hours, and the entire journey will run us about two days."

"Excellent. Oh, your quarters are down the back of this floor. You've got your own bed and stuff, and if you need to change suits or whatever then you could use the airlock or the med-bay downstairs; both have decontamination abilities from what I could see."

"Sounds good Commander."

"You know that you don't have to call me that."

The Quarian shrugged and looked up at him from the chair, "It sounds right when I'm piloting. If I'm free then I'll call you Kronos, but I'd rather be professional when it comes to being on the job."

Andy nodded with a slightly appraising look, "Fair enough. I'm going to head down to the med-bay and redress this wound of mine and then catch some shut-eye. Give me a buzz if there's any trouble, yeah?"

"Sure thing Commander."

Nodding his goodbye Andy made his way down to the lower deck and quickly redressed his wound; reapplying some medigel and taking a couple of painkillers when the pain flared up once more. He could still see the bare muscle in the open hole, but compared to what it had looked like at Mordin's clinic it had regenerated massively. If he had to hazard a guess it'd be a mere ache with some red skin by the time they reached Illium. Giving one last holler to Kar on his way to his quarters he quickly stripped off and collapsed onto the bed; the day's activities finally taking their heavy toll on his exhausted body. The last thing he thought before Morpheus claimed him was that he'd best get rid of all the Cerberus bugs and rewrite the operating system before he did anything important.


	3. Break Outs and Ins

**A/N: Well this'll be the last update for the next week or so, and I hope you enjoy it! R&R!**

* * *

"Miss T'Soni?"

The Asari that was looking out over the trading floor turned around at the unfamiliar voice, and Andy raised his eyebrows at her beauty. The concept wasn't new to him; every single character he'd seen in the Mass Effect games looked better, or at the very least more detailed, than this universe's counterparts - and that was to be expected, as this was real life, and the game was just that: a game. The game however, truly did Liara no justice whatsoever, and Andy tried his even best to _not_ get caught staring. She looked him over, dressed in his smart civilian clothes, and cocked her head to the side. "Yes?"

Holding out his hand he gave her a friendly smile, "My name is Andy Kronos, and I have some… information for you."

Her attitude changed almost immediately, and she took his offered hand with a matching smile. "Ah, excellent! What information do you have?"

"Well I _could_ just happen to have information on John Shepard, and also on the Shadow Broker." He immediately had a gun pointed at his face and looked down the barrel with trained serenity. "Well I wasn't expecting this kind of reception."

"What do you know about John Shepard?"

"Well I know that you handed him over to Cerberus, and I also know that you keep his dog tags in your top left drawer."

"Commander," interrupted Kar'Shaal nervously, "perhaps it'd be in your best interest to _not_ wind her up; she does have a gun to your head."

"And who are you?" she asked with a glare, and the Quarian held up his hands in a show of surrender.

"I'm Andy's pilot."

"Right," she murmured, and then turned her attention back to the blonde-haired man standing in front of her. "And who are you? Really?"

With a blur of movement he tore the pistol from her grip and ejected the thermal clip, and upon feeling herself disarmed Liara's skin immediately flared a magnificent blue. She threw her hands out towards Andy, but found herself completely and utterly shocked when his own biotics flared into being and quite literally stopped her throw attack in mid-air. "I really don't appreciate having a gun pointed at my head," he grinned, "that's why I disarmed you." He felt her biotics flare with more power and easily brought his own up to the same level; continually repelling her attacks.

"H-how?" she grunted with effort, "No humans can match an Asari Pureblood!"

"Well I seem to be faring pretty well," he quipped, his grin not diminishing in the slightest, "in fact I seem to be doing it quite easily. I've been told I can match an Asari Matriarch - not that I've tried mind you, but it's the reputation that counts." She finally let her biotics drop and watched warily as Andy did the same, relaxing when she saw that his stance was completely non-threatening. "So I'm not going to find myself looking down the barrel of a shotgun next, am I?" She had the decency the blush; her cheeks turning a deeper shade of blue, and Andy thought her expression very cute.

"No," she replied silkily, "I only carry a sidearm, and I do apologise for my actions, but my business forces me to take precautions."

"Quite alright," assured the young man with a grin, "and I wouldn't worry about any bugs in this office; I'm shorting them out with a program running on my Omni-tool." She looked at him, shocked, and he took a seat without it being offered, Kar following his example a moment later. "Now Miss T'Soni, I realize that you had a romantic relationship with John Shepard at the time of his death. I know this is a sore topic, but things that I know, and plan to do, depend on your decisions and dreams for the future."

She had sobered at the mention of Shepard's death, but nodded after a moment. "Yes, we were romantically involved."

"I'm afraid I'll need something more than that, Miss T'Soni." She sat down and stared at a holo-frame on her desk for several seconds before Andy saw the tears slowly travel down her cheeks, and she hastily swiped them away - embarrassed at showing such emotion in front of a complete stranger. "You're in love with him," he stated softly after a moment, and her eyes snapped to his - wary for a moment, but then they calmed when she saw the understanding expression on his face. "Well that makes things more… difficult."

"Mister Kronos, what do you know?"

Her tone was slightly demanding, and Andy frowned. "Miss T'Soni, I appreciate that you love him, and I also appreciate that you're in the business of information brokering, but I'm not like those other low-life informants you're used to dealing with. The information I have could turn this entire galaxy on its head, several times over, and I would be grateful it if you didn't rush me." Her expression told him that she wasn't used to being talked down to, but he ignored that as he thought about how his plotted actions would change the timeline should he make them a reality. "Firstly, two years after Shepard died he will come back to life - don't ask me the specifics," he interrupted before she could voice her own, "because I don't know them. He _will_ come back, and coming here will probably be his first port of call, or at the very least _one_ of the first. Now you need to make a decision right this moment, and it _will_ shape the rest of your life." She nodded, and he gave a deep sigh. "What comes first to you? Being with Shepard, or information brokering?"

She looked positively scandalized, "I would choose Shepard! How could I do anything else?"

He looked at her and gave a wry smile, and neither Liara nor Kar heard his muttered, "Because you chose the latter in the game." He sat forward and gave a nod however, understanding that the time he had posed the question may have altered her response, and continued forth with his plan. "Very well. You've changed, even since Shepard died, because of the Shadow Broker," he commented, "and that will hurt Shepard if you continue down that path. A little bit of ruthlessness is fine, hell, even illegal is fine, but you're headed down the path of no return Miss T'Soni, and you need to pull out now if you want to truly be with Shepard."

She stared at him for some time, and then shook her head with a look of bewilderment. "Who _are_ you? How can you know all this?"

He smiled lightly, not wanting to detract from the seriousness of his words with a grin, and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, and that's beside the point. I know I'm asking you for a hell of a lot considering we've just met, but for what I've got planned I need to know that you trust me like I trust you." After a moment his eyes widened with an idea and he cocked his head. "If it would make you any more comfortable, you could attempt a partial meld with me in order to discern my intentions - but I would only agree to a _partial_ meld; there are some things I would rather not have known." She seemed reluctant and Andy gave her a reassuring smile, "I know you find melding to be… intense, but I assure you that I can aid you in limiting the experience - I've been trained by an Asari Matriarch."

She nodded after another moment, and Andy walked over to her where she placed her hands on either side of his head and, with a small jolt of energy peered into his eyes with her now-black orbs. "Embrace Eternity."

He felt her mind joining with his and her panic when her system attempted to continue deepening the meld into one befitting of reproductive status, but she calmed when Andy flared his biotics to quell the urge. He allowed her a brief look at his intentions and feelings, and then cut her abruptly off when his memories started being accessed. She lowered her hands with a look of amazement, and he returned to his seat before crossing his legs and smiling. "So do you trust me now?"

"Kronos, are you sure about this? My sources tell me that this biotic is very dangerous."

Andy looked up from the terminal on his desk and leant back in his chair when he saw Liara staring questioningly at him from her own terminal across from him; lining one of the walls. "She is dangerous," he affirmed, "but she's still… she can still be saved. I'm not going to lie and tell you that she's a ray of sunshine, in fact she's probably the polar opposite of you; volatile, coarse, lacking in innocence, and violent, but… there's just something about her."

"You love her?"

His eyes widened and he gave a small bark of laughter, but then sunk into seriousness when he thought about her question. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about trying to recreate the relationship he had had with the young woman in the game, but love? "No… at least not yet. I _am_ attracted to her, and I hope that that will go somewhere, but we'll see."

Seeing that it was a somewhat touchy subject for the man Liara just nodded and returned to her terminal; leaving the young soldier to his thoughts. Three hours later Kar'Shaal turned around in his seat and informed them that they were half an hour out from their destination and both Andy and Liara went to their respective quarters to get changed into the new armour, courtesy of some contacts that the young Asari had on Illium and a couple hundred thousand credits that Andy had built up over the years. He'd decided to go with a matte-black theme with the only colour coming from the bright blue lighting of the Kestrel sheathing, and if he was honest with himself it looked positively badass. He met with Liara in the Armoury and as he was picking out his weapons Liara spoke. "I'm sorry if I was too bold in my questions before, Andy; it was not my place."

He turned his head over his shoulder and sent her a warm, reassuring smile. "No, it's okay - in fact I needed that question asked. I've been avoiding the topic, but now we're about to actually get her on board it's something that I need to know about myself, as it could affect my plans and the safety of my crew."

She watched him slip his Mattock assault rifle on his back and picked up a machine gun herself. "And, if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do?"

He grinned at her as he slid the last weapon into place, "Me? I'm going to do my saving people thing."

"You think you can heal her?"

He looked out the window that gave a view of the stars outside and nodded. "With time, with patience, with a lot of hard work… yeah, I think that I can. I want to show her that love _is_ possible, and that it _can_ work."

"But you said you're not in love with her."

"Yet," he added, and turned around with a smile, "that doesn't mean I can't… and I don't think it'll be hard to do so. Once I get past that hard exterior… I think that I'm going to fall in love at first sight."

Before Liara could comment Kar came over the intercom and told them that they were docking, and both of them looked out the window to see the huge and rather daunting prison ship that was looming in front of them. "We're going to get her out of _there_?"

"Yeah…" even he felt a little cowed by the huge structure, and he walked out onto the main deck with Liara following close behind to watch their approach. "Now just a small warning, the warden is corrupt as hell, as I'm sure you know," he motioned to Liara, and she nodded in the affirmative, "and he could try something underhanded. He's going to try and get us to leave our weapons behind at the entrance foyer, but don't give him any ground. My name isn't well known yet, so that's a bonus, and you're pretty off-the-map Liara, so he doesn't have anything to gain by stabbing us in the back, but don't discount that possibility. Now I've transferred payment to him to get Jack out of cryo and transferred to us, but all hell's going to break loose when they do, because she isn't going to take nicely to being woken up. Alarms are going to go off, and everything's going to be pretty chaotic for a while - at least until we catch up with Jack. They're not going to want to let her go after the damage she's going to unleash, so we're going to need to get the hell off this place the moment we convince her to come."

"Is this another one of those things where you know stuff you probably shouldn't Commander? And where we shouldn't ask because we wouldn't believe you even if you told us?"

Andy gave a chuckle and nodded, "Yes, it is one of those times. Perhaps when the Reaper threat is over and done with I'll tell you, but not a second before."

Several minutes later Liara and Andy stepped out of the airlock and into the arrivals foyer; both of them wearing the latest Recon Hoods that covered their heads completely with a ballistic mesh and had an enhanced HUD over their eyes. They were halted by a Blue Suns soldier as they were about to move up the steps, and Andy almost laughed at the civility he was shown when he was spoken to; he wondered if they'd be as welcoming if they knew he'd pretty much wiped out their Omega branch singlehandedly. "I'm afraid that as this is a high security vessel you'll need to relinquish you weapons before you proceed."

Andy looked at the man for several seconds before looking over his shoulder, and he almost scowled when he saw the warden come out of the doors ahead. "Mister Kronos, I'm Warden Kuril; the owner of this ship. Your weapons will be returned when you leave, of that I assure you - but this is just standard procedure where clients are involved."

Thinking back to the game when he'd played he gave the response he thought Shepard had given when in the same situation, with a little bit of goading to boot. "Well it's my standard procedure to keep my weapons, and besides, if this is such a high security vessel then I'm sure you can handle two clients who just want some peace of mind."

The Turian stared at him for several seconds, and had the situation been any less important Andy would have laughed at the macho-stare-down the warden was trying to initiate. His glare was met by the blonde's calm, serene gaze, and eventually the man relented and he signalled to his guards to stand down. "I'm sure we can handle two armed guests within our halls. We're bringing Jack out of cryo right now, and your funds just cleared. If you'll follow me to out-processing then you can be on your way."

"Mind if we watch Jack come out of cryo?"

The man shrugged and gave a nod, and the two followed him down the hallways as he explained the workings of the prison. Liara looked astonished when the Turian admitted that if home planets didn't pay his fees then he'd drop the criminals back without notice, but before she could comment Andy caught her eye and shook his head; the last thing they needed to do was piss off the warden before everything went to hell. They finally reached the oh-so-familiar room where in the game Shepard had had to hack the console and release every prisoner in the entire facility, and the Warden punched in a code to the haptic interface. Andy's Omni-tool subtly recorded the finger positions and transferred them for use at a later point.

It was almost a carbon-copy moment of what had happened in the game, and Liara's jaw was slack by the time the biotic had powered her way through three YMIR Mechs and blasted a rather sizable hole in the wall to make her daring escape. Carefully slipping away in the chaos that ensued wasn't that hard, and the two walked through the halls as the Klaxons blared all around them and red lights flashed irritatingly. "You knew that this was going to happen, how?"

With a grin he tapped the side of his nose as they continued towards the window where they would be able to see their docked ship, and when they finally arrived in that particular hallway Andy took a seat near the wall and crossed his legs before sinking deep into a trance-like state. Liara watched, amazed, as the young man exhibited unprecedented control over his biotics; his body hugged by a thin but powerful layer of dark energy, and so she settled down to wait for whatever they were waiting for - keeping herself occupied by watching something she had previously considered impossible from a human. Contrary to what it looked like, Andy was highly aware of everything around him, infinitely more so than normally possible in fact. He had tiny, hair-thin tendrils of dark energy floating through all of the halls around him sensing for life forces, and when he felt an incredibly powerful one trigger his own he stood up and threw his hands outwards just as Jack came sprinting around the corner with Blue Suns on her heels. Everyone stopped and stared in amazement as a veritable vortex of purple and blue tore around the biotic, even Jack herself, at least until the mass of Blue Suns suddenly screamed out in agony as they too were surrounded by the same maelstrom of energy.

Andy could feel the life energy that his Reave was pulling from the Blue Suns and, had his face been uncovered, they would have borne witness to a feral grin as they fell to the ground, finally dead. It was to this scene that Warden Kuril entered, and all three turned to look at him. Jack's eyes widened when she realized that this man was her jailor, and with a roar of fury she charged at him; her biotic barriers automatically shielding her from the bullets he was desperately firing at her. When she reached him her lips twisted into a victorious snarl, and a second later she plunged her hand right through his armour where it burst out the back of him in a shower of gore and blue blood. The look on the warden's face was almost humorous; filled with shock at being defeated by one of his own prisoners. He collapsed face-first to the ground with a muted splat when the young woman withdrew her bloodied arm from his chest, and Andy soon found himself looking right into an approaching shockwave. His biotics flared to life once more; his triggers automatically activating a trained response from him, and his own energy easily overpowered Jack's; neutralising the massive, pounding trail of biotics.

Jack gaped at him, and he finally lowered his arms before removing his recon hood and tucking it into some mesh on the side of his armour. Giving her a cheeky grin he held out his arm to point to his ship that was docked just outside the window, "Jailbreak for Jack!"

"Who the fuck are you?"

He had the gall to look affronted at her tone, and inside he was smirking; he could see just how fun it would be to wind her up. "Little old me? My name is Andy Kronos just a freelance merc."

"If you think I'm coming with you then you can go and fu-"

"And where else are you going to go, eh?" That question shut her up and he continued with a small smile, "Look, I came here to get you out so that you could join my crew, so are you going to take the offer or not? It even comes with dental."

"Dent… what the fuck?"

"Well I was looking for a 'yes' or a 'no', but a 'what the fuck' does me as well. Either way you're getting the hell off this ship before more Blue Suns come here to investigate, so follow me."

Not waiting for an answer he turned on his heel, surreptitiously winking at the gaping Liara as he did so, and began walking. It took a moment for the young woman to get her wits about her, but she finally ran after Andy and Liara before bombarding the former with questions. "Look, I don't know who the fuck sent you but you should know that I don't _do_ joining crews."

"Well you're going to have to make an exception here Jack," he quipped back easily, and she sent him a scowl before launching a biotic-enhanced punch at him.

She found herself blasted back into the wall before her fist could make contact, and a second later had Andy right up in her face with a small scowl on his lips; his biotics easily overpowering hers and holding her tight against the metal at her back. "I travelled from Illium to save your ass," he growled, "and I spent five hundred _thousand_ credits to get in here and get you out of cryo - you owe me big time because I have intelligence that the warden had scheduled you for some… _pleasure_ with some paying clients next week." He saw a small shudder run through her body at what he was implying and let his biotics release her where she fell to her knees. "Look, it's been a long day and using my biotics like I have is taking its toll. Come with me, get some sleep yourself, and then when I wake up you can ask your questions."

She eyed him for several seconds before nodding and standing up, and he started walking once more. "I- thanks I guess."

She couldn't see his wide eyes and slightly slack jaw as he was walking in front of her, but he was clearly shocked at what she had said. Liara caught his surprise, and raised an inquiring eyebrow, but he shook his head slightly and she turned her attention back to the docking module they were walking towards. "You're welcome." Apparently he had gained a fair amount of respect from the young woman to have her actually _thank_ him without a curse word thrown in, though the lack of Cerberus paraphernalia and his incredible display of biotics probably had something to do with it. His Omni-tool overrode the lockdown with the same code Kuril had used to take Jack out of cryo, and the three boarded the recently-named Icharus. Jack let out a low whistle when she saw the luxuriousness of the interior and Andy gave a tired chuckle before nodding to Liara who went into the armoury to offload her weapons and armour. "Kar!" he yelled up to the front of the ship, "Get us out of here and set course for the Citadel."

"Why're we heading there?"

"We're going to get settled in and make some plans."

"Aye Commander, we'll be about five days travel."

Andy settled back into his chair and looked across at Jack who was playing with the galaxy map. "Well Liara'll be about ten minutes so I can answer any questions you have until I can offload my gear."

The biotic turned around to peer at him and then sat down in a spare chair after a second. "Fine, first you can tell me just how the fuck your biotics are more powerful than mine; I've never met a human stronger than me."

Andy gave a dry chuckle, "You and I have something in common in that respect," he admitted, "we've both been experimented on by Cerberus."

Her eyes immediately darkened and her posture took on a more threatening appearance. "Cerberus? What the fuck did they do to you?"

"Well they amped up my biotics, excuse the terrible pun; stuck a sub-dermal infiltrator cloak in me; modified my DNA; and then, the kicker, replaced every single muscle and bone in my body with cybernetics and synthetics. Hell, even my skin's been treated for strength."

She gaped at him and he sent her a small grin, "'Course I'd still say you had it worse than I did. I was unconscious for the most part, and after I woke up I found that they'd given me a luxury apartment and hired three of the best in their respective fields to train me."

And then she attacked, or at the very least _tried_. She slammed into a barrier created by the man standing in front of her and then found herself held in a stasis field; unable to move in the slightest. He sent her a small glare in response to the assault. "I hate Cerberus with a passion Jack, so don't you dare assume I'm working for them. You don't know the first thing about me, and I know all about you, so keep your cool and let me explain before you jump to conclusions." Waiting for her eyes to display her surrender he let her go and returned to sitting back in his chair with a sigh. "So they trained me, and then Cerberus turned me out on my arse to go freelance." He held up his hands to stop her interruption even before it could begin, "I don't know why they did it, but if the abnormalities in my amp and infiltrator layer's programming variables were anything to go by then they intended to control me through force if I did something against what they wanted me to do. I managed to imprint new firmware on both of them, and my cybernetics, so any controls they had to laud over me are gone now."

"I might not know shit about all that technical crap Kronos, but I sure as fuck know that if such a thing was possible then everybody'd be running around with biotics, cloaking mechanisms, and cybernetics."

He gave a helpless shrug, "Hey, I'm as clueless as you. S'far as I can tell I'm a one in a trillion sort of bloke in that respect. Apparently I'm one of Cerberus' mad experiments that actually went right."

"Fuck that."

Andy couldn't agree more. Liara walked out of the armoury in her casual wear and the blonde stood up, groaning happily as several vertebrae cracked back into place. "Well I'm knackered," he murmured, "so I'll see you whenever I wake up, or whenever you wake up… whatever." He pointed to the end door that led to the crew's quarters, "You can either sleep in there with Kar and Liara or I've got a stretcher set up downstairs in the engine core."

She raised an eyebrow at his knowledge of her preferences and he sent her a lopsided smile, "Just ask Kar and Liara; I know shit that I shouldn't - now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and crash… and sleep for a day… or two."

Jack watched her saviour walk wearily into the armoury until the doors hissed shut behind him and she crossed her arms while looking at the locked door in confusion. "What the fuck?"

* * *

Much to Andy's expectation the young convict had decided to camp out on the lower deck, and when he awoke and stumbled down the stairs to get breakfast he found her sitting at the dining table tucking into a sandwich. She watched him make his way to the fridge with amusement written all over her face. "Rough night eh Kronos?"

"Fuck you," he shot back, and a rare grin tugged at her lips; finally someone who could relate to her. He'd been an experiment of Cerberus' as well, and not only was he on par with her own biotics, but far surpassed them, and if he was to be believed, which she oddly thought he was, then he was enhanced with damn near everything the 'verse had to offer as well. After fixing himself a rather messy sandwich himself he collapsed onto the chair and finished it in five seconds flat before rising once more and fixing himself another one; this time just staying at the counter to save time. Two minutes and six sandwiches later he was done and he sat down once again contentedly patting his stomach.

He watched stealthily as Jack looked him over; her eyes judgemental and now somewhat suspicious, and knew what was coming. "What do you want?"

"Well I want your help with this mission we're currently on, and then we'll see what happens."

Her stare intensified, "You want something more from me Kronos? Because if you do then you might as well just fucking say so."

Andy leant back in his chair and met her slight glare with his highly practiced serene one, and he could easily see the signs of expectation and slight anger there in her body language. "In other words, Jack, you're asking me if I want to fuck you." It wasn't a question, rather a statement, and he raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if you want to know the answer to your question then you'd best just tell me what you fucking mean." His slight grin took any sting out of his words and she gaped at him for several very long seconds, and he gave a laugh. "What, not used to people matching you in wit? I'm not your average grunt, Jack, so get used to the fact that I actually have brains in here," he tapped his skull with his grin widening, and he saw her lips twitch slightly before she clearly forced herself back into seriousness.

"Well then tell me Kronos, you wanna fuck me?"

He made a show of looking her over; his eyes clinging to her eyes, lips, and breasts for a moment longer than any of her other features, and he eventually shook his head before making his way over to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. "Want one?" he called over his shoulder and she found herself speechless once more.

"Well… yeah, but- wait a minute, answer my fucking question shithead!"

"How do you take it?" Oh he was loving this, and had to stifle a grin at how he was playing her.

"White, double with one suga- what the fuck? Answer me!" When he finally turned around she saw his grin and she stared at him with her jaw slack. "Okay, what the fuck Kronos - I was asking you questions and then I found myself answering yours… how the fuck did you do that?"

"Subtle manipulation," he explained as he brewed the coffee, "takes _ages_ to get it right, but it helps like hell in negotiations. You were pissed, I was calm; you were starting to yell, I talked quietly; you were ordering me to answer, and I asked you nicely - all opposites of what you were doing."

"So what?"

He could hear the interest in her tone, and the lack of the anger he'd heard there previously, and smiled to himself as he got two mugs ready. "Well your brain suddenly thought 'what the hell am I doing? I'm yelling at a murmuring man, how ridiculous!' and so you quietened down, and it did the same with your emotions, 'why am I pissed at a calm, easy going bloke?' sort of thing. Turning your questions back on you worked the exact same way."

"…that's pretty fucking cool Kronos."

He gave a laugh and walked over with their steaming drinks; sliding hers over to her before sitting down himself and taking a delighted sip of the brew. "Hard to learn though, but I could teach you if you wanted to learn how to do it."

Her eyes turned suspicious once more. "Okay, this time what the fuck Kronos. You know about me; I've done all kinds of messed up shit; murder, theft, drugs, arson, and that kind of crap is boring for me. Chances are I'll end up fucking killing you or something, and you're offering to _teach_ me something that could _help_ me do all that kind of shit easier?"

He looked at her, all traces of joking gone from his expression, and just looked deep into her cinnamon eyes with a small frown marring his brow. It had been years since somebody had dared scrutinize her in such a way without being killed for it, but Jack knew that if she was unarmed, and despite the fact that he was still worn out from his incredible biotic display the day before she knew that he could still wipe the floor with her. "Fuck it," he murmured and called up his Omni-tool before quickly running a program to link it into the ships communication system. "Kar, we're going to change course if that's all the same to you."

"Your ship Commander."

"Set course for Pragia in the Dakka system," he ordered, and he saw Jack's suspicion return, and her body tense, "we have a Cerberus facility to nuke."

A second later he found himself slammed into the nearest wall and was looking down into Jack's furious brown eyes and snarling lips. "Fuck you," she spat, "I don't care if you're a freelance or just like me, you've got to want something out of this and I want to know just what the fuck it is."

He had localized some biotics at his throat to prevent her from crushing his windpipe, and he stared down at her before flaring it slightly to push her away. She landed on her butt and he brushed himself off before sitting down once more and motioning to the chair opposite. He could see the conflict in her expression as she tried to decide whether or not to do as he was asking, but she finally gave in and sat down rather violently before fixing him with an expression that clearly said, 'start talking right the fuck now'. "You've been in cryo for three years," he started, "so you don't know shit about what's been going on. The Citadel was attacked by a sentient machine called a Reaper around five months ago, and we discovered that the entire thing was an inactive mass relay. These Reapers were planning on using it to come through from Dark Space and wipe us all out; every single species and life form that this universe has to offer."

Jack looked disbelieving for several seconds, or at least until Andy pulled up a hologram that had recently been wiped from the extranet; a news report showing vids of the huge ship Sovereign. "Why the fuck would they do that?"

Andy shrugged, "I don't know; it seems pointless, but they do it all the same. It was the Reapers that wiped out the Protheans in fact, so they're powerful as hell if they were able to destroy such an advanced race. They were thwarted by the first human Spectre John Shepard and his team upon the SSV Normandy, and everything went back to normal… so normal in fact, that the Council denies the existence of the Reapers and has called the one that attacked the Citadel a 'Geth Flagship' for fuck's sake. John Shepard was killed in action during an investigation into missing ships, but his body was later recovered by Liara."

"The Asari, right?"

He nodded in the affirmative, "Right. So she handed his body over to Cerberus," he held up his hand when he saw her anger resurface, "yes, I know, but it was the right thing to do - trust me. They're currently working on something called the Lazarus Project, and in just under a year from now John Shepard is going to be brought back to life, given a new frigate called the Normandy SR-2, and tasked with stopping the Collectors, who are Protheans that were genetically enslaved by the Reapers, from abducting human colonies." He gave her confused expression a wry grin in return, "It's one of those things that I can't really tell you how I know, but suffice to say that he'll be back. Now what I want to do, and I hope that I can possibly convince _you_ to do, is to make a name for ourselves, put our abilities out there, so that he'll recruit us for the mission."

"You're insane," she murmured with wide eyes, and he gave a chuckle before taking another mouthful of coffee.

"In the job description, and you fit it just as well as I do. Look, you don't have to do this; if you'd like then you can leave this crew once we've taken down the Shadow Broker," he grinned widely at her shocked expression, "and yes, that's the mission I was talking about, but I'd be… honoured? No, I'd be very happy if you were to join this crew for the long run."

And there it was; all his cards bar a few on the table, especially the one about him being attracted to her for the time being. Andy met her gaze evenly, allowing her to see that he wasn't screwing around, and she finally gave a sigh and sat back with her expression far softer than it had been previously. He was delighted to see it. "You're pretty much asking me to work for Cerberus Kronos, and I fucking hate them with a passion… but you're putting off your mission to let me blow up a Cerberus facility? I just don't get it."

"Not just any Cerberus facility Jack." Her eyes widened for a second before turning almost tearful and Andy almost kicked himself; he'd made incredible progress getting through her shell thus far, but it was getting to the point where he was almost pushing too hard. "We were going to nuke that place whether or not you decided to join the crew permanently Jack, but now that we're on the way just think about the offer, okay? And as for your worries, keep them because I really don't care. You won't end up killing me because you simply _can't_, and if you decide to take me up on that training then not only will your biotics be boosted but you'll find yourself changing… in a good way." He looked at his Omni-tool that was still uplinked to the ship's navigational systems and saw that they were about to hit the relay that would lead them to the Nubian Expanse, and from there to the Dakka system. "I'm heading up to the bridge, but feel free to take a look in the armoury - I purchased some stuff that I thought you might like before we picked you up."

Leaving the confused young woman to her thoughts he made his way up to the cockpit and looked at the approaching relay; looking majestically powerful in the dark expanse of space. "Never get tired of that sight Commander," commented Kar, and Andy could only nod in agreement; it never ceased to amaze him at times just where he was, and _when_ he was. He watched as the tendrils of blue shot like lightning out to their ship before pulling them parallel to the giant structure, and then with a barely noticeable jolt they were travelling faster than the speed of light across the galaxy. The Quarian and Andy just sat looking at the beautiful blue swirls of the wormhole around them for nearly an hour before the latter stood up, cracked his back, and made his way into the armoury to fiddle around with some of the calibration algorithms on his M-97 Viper sniper rifle. Liara came in after around half an hour and sat down to watch him work, and he waited for the question that was inevitably coming. "Why are we going to Pragia Andy?"

He lay the rifle down over his lap and gave a sigh, "It's where Cerberus experimented on Jack, hence the reason we're going to nuke it. Hopefully it'll give her some closure and allow her to start healing."

"With you."

He looked at her with a small smile, "I most certainly wouldn't mind but I don't want to rush her. If I'm going to have a relationship then it isn't just going to be a one-time romp in the sack." She looked confused at the idiom and he gave a teasing grin, "In other words, Liara, to put it crudely, a quick fuck."

He laughed when her cheeks turned a dark blue and went back to modifying the trigger algorithm. "Andrew, you are aware of just how dangerous she is, don't you?"

He nodded in the affirmative, "Yeah, but as I told you earlier, underneath that hard, crude, cold exterior she's a woman just like any other, and she has emotions running rampant like the best of us. Hopefully you'll see some of that once the Teltin Facility's up in flames."

"Andrew, the only person she is vaguely civil to is you. I tried to talk to her last night and she called me 'tentacle head', and when Kar attempted to converse she referred to him as 'bucket'." He tried to stifle his chuckles, he really did, but he couldn't quell it well enough and soon burst into laughter at the affronted expression on Liara's face. She let out a huff and crossed her arms angrily, and this just made Andy laugh harder. "The look on your face," he wheezed out, and then dissolved back into laughter once more. Figuring that he wasn't laughing at the derogatory names but rather her reaction to them she relaxed slightly. "Aw that's priceless; Kar's got a new nickname."

Liara shook her head in despair but then turned her attention back to the topic that had her so interested. "How do you know that there's someone capable of loving in her?"

Andrew just tapped the side of his nose and gave her a wink as he answered, "Just another one of those things."

It had taken three days of travelling, and during each of their talks during that time he'd seen Jack getting tenser and tenser. He could see her shaking slightly as the complex came into view out of the window and Kar held the ship steady at ten thousand feet above the facility; their ship far too big to land on the pad far below them. Andy checked the pack strapped to the back of his light armour, as he'd decided on speed over defensive capabilities this time, and he looked over at the young woman who was fiddling with the skin-tight black armour she was wearing. "This is fucking uncomfortable Kronos," she moaned, "I was comfortable in my freaking-"

"Strap?" She glared at him, and he met her glare just like the rest - and after a couple of seconds she relented and gave a breathy, "How the fuck do you do that?"

"We're at two thousand meters and holding commander. We'll retreat to thirty thousand feet while you two do your thing and then drop by for a slingshot - though I still think you're mental. We've really got to see about getting a small travel craft attached to the bottom of this thing."

"Slingshot?" questioned Jack, and she got a shrug in return.

"Just a pickup method that I'm sure will appeal to your insane side - I sure as hell know that it appeals to mine."

He opened the airlock and looked down, and with a small 'follow me' motion to Jack he leapt out of the hovering spacecraft and plummeted downwards. He loved jumping; there was nothing else that compared. With his helmet's auditory filters switched off there was simply blissful silence as the ground got closer and closer, and the feel of complete and utter freedom that surrounded him. He held out an arm to change the friction and flip him onto his back and found himself staring at a rapidly approaching Jack, whose face behind the mask clearly showed that she was thankful she was wearing the new armour; without it she'd be freezing. Four hundred meters away from the landing pad Andy activated his chute, and a mass-effect field was suddenly generated underneath him; slowing him down until he stepped onto the hard concrete with the grace of someone who had simply stepped off a small ledge. Jack wasn't quite as graceful; not accustomed to the method of travel, but managed quite well for a first timer.

He wondered whether or not Aresh would be here again, but quickly discredited that theory; the last time he'd 'been' here it was two and a bit years in the future and Aresh was just starting to move in. He saw Jack standing stock-still as she looked at the huge, faded Cerberus logo that was painted on the side of the building and walked over to her before placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped away with a hiss at his touch, and let out a growl before realizing that it was just him and relaxing slightly, though it was clear that she was still highly strung. "C'mon, let's get inside, plant the bomb, and then blow this place to hell. I doubt you want to be here for longer than you have to be."

He received a sharp nod in return and they walked down the stairs; both of them with their pistols by their sides just in case. As they walked through the complex Jack explained certain places; certain memories that were triggered, and Andy was finding it hard to not just go and hug the woman. The game didn't express her emotions like seeing her in real life did; the minute expressions that meant so much and conveyed pain, suffering and vulnerability despite the fact she was talking about killing others and enjoying it. They finally came to her room, and he took a step back to give her space to move about freely and not feel boxed in; that was the last thing he wanted to do, especially in such a place which brought forth such memories for her. As she slowly walked around she gave him a commentary of how she was treated, and the raw emotion in her voice had Andy hating his benefactors even more than he already did. Finally she took in a deep breath and knelt down in the centre of the room to plant the small but infinitely powerful bomb. A couple of seconds later she stood and turned to him with a nod. "Okay, no more wallowing - let's blow this place to hell."

Three minutes later they were standing back on top of the landing pad and Jack was looking around with a confused expression on her face. "How the hell are we getting off here Kronos?"

"It's called a slingshot," he explained with a grin, "because that's what Kar is going to do. He's going to come in on a shallow trajectory with two cables coming out behind the ship, and then head vertical when he reaches us. The cables will shoot past us, and we grab onto them when they do so."

"…have I told you you're insane today?"

"I think so, but another time doesn't hurt," he quipped with a grin, "now you might have to jump if he's a little bit off, so charge that with your biotics if you need to, and make sure to encase your arm, hand, and shoulder with energy else you're liable to be missing an arm, 'kay?" She gave him a look that was clearly questioning his sanity, but didn't have time to rebuke as Andy pointed upwards, "Here he comes, get ready." She watched as the ship came swooping down with two black wires streaming behind it, and with a deep breath and a silent wish that this wouldn't be the day she lost an arm, she jumped at the exact same time Andy did. Pulling her biotics to surround her arm and provide it with some support she reached out and latched onto the cable; holding on for dear life. The jolt was indescribable, and yet the adrenaline rush that burst through her system when they shot upwards was all-consuming. From his own cable Andy grinned knowingly and watched as the hull of the ship came nearer and nearer until they found themselves entering the airlock from a hatch that had opened up in the bottom of the ship. When the floor closed up behind them Jack stared at him with a gleeful grin on her face. "That was fucking awesome Kronos."

He gave a mock bow as the doors to the bridge opened and grinned right back. "My pleasure." He sobered as they approached the window from which they could see the small spec that was the facility surrounded by green vegetation and he placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping like hell that she wouldn't blow up at the contact like she would've done with Shepard. To his surprise, relief, and happiness she just looked at him with a small smile and then turned back to the window as she pressed the button on the detonator she had clutched tightly in her hand. They watched as a flash of light erupted from the facility, and then a huge shockwave spread out for kilometres as a mushroom cloud rose up from the crater that was left in the bombs wake. Giving her a small squeeze he let his hand drop to his side and made his way to the armoury to offload; he knew she'd need time to assimilate all the changes in her situation and history, and had no problem leaving her to her thoughts - if she wanted to talk then she knew where to find him.

"Kar, set course for the Citadel would you? I've got a private docking port in the Presidium that I've uploaded the coordinates to, so head there. I've integrated the identification algorithms as well so you should be able to just head on in without any challenge."

"How the hell do you have a _private_ dock in the _Presidium_?"

He gave a shrug despite the fact that the Quarian couldn't see him, "Cerberus purchased a luxury apartment for me, I sold it because it was bugged to hell, and then I used the money from the sale as well as some from various missions I've done over the years with my trainers to buy a private, and very secure complex on the Presidium."

"Well… okay then. Setting course now Commander; estimated time of arrival is six days."

He nodded to himself and quickly got dressed in his casual clothes before stepping out of the changing cubicle and placing all of his gear back in their appropriate places. "You fucking like me, don't you Kronos?"

"I thought that'd be obvious by now," he agreed without turning around to face the woman leaning in the doorway.

"You never answered my question earlier."

"No, I did seem to evade it quite nicely, didn't I?"

"Stop fucking around Kronos, if you just want a quick shag then say so."

"Jack," he said lowly as he turned around, and she was slightly taken aback by the seriousness in his eyes, "I saved you from a prison, took you back to the place you were tortured so you could get closure, and all without any obligation from you. I told you that you could leave whenever you wanted; you have free choice to do whatever the hell you want, so I think that'd convey the fact that I do _not_ want, as you so crudely put it a few days ago, to _fuck_ you. If I was going to be intimate with you then it sure as shit wouldn't be _fucking,_ Jack, because I that isn't a relationship, and that's what I want." Jack was clearly taken aback by his tone and moved out of his way when he walked past her and onto the bridge. Before she could say anything he turned his head over his shoulder and said so lowly that only she could hear, "And if you _dare_ insinuate that I'm so _low_ as to guilt-trip a woman like that then you can get the _fuck_ off my ship, whether I care about you or not."


	4. Can We Be?

**A/N: I lied, haha - this, however, will be the last update for over a week. Hopefully this'll get the story into people's filters that get rid of fics under 20,000 words - I'm a little surprised at the lack of response however, though I'll keep on posting, rest assured!**

* * *

The entire crew was tense during the journey to the Citadel, mainly because of the silence that Andy and Jack seemed to be treating each other to, and while the former still conversed with Liara and Kar'Shaal, the latter had sequestered herself in the Engine Room - refusing to speak to anybody. While Andy was still pissed off at the fact that she had suggested that he was low enough to simply use all of what he had done for her in order to get sex, he had understood her reasoning. She hadn't known anything else before in her life; to her, sex was payment, or a way to get things, or to manipulate people. She knew nothing of genuine affection, of unconditional actions, and it was clearly confusing for her, but Andy held his morals in very, very high regard; not breaking them for anything or anybody, and to have it implied that his morals allowed for such an act was downright insulting - hence the reason why he hadn't tried to patch up their tenuous relationship. She had to come to that conclusion herself. She needed to understand that she had to disregard all previous stereotypes of men, especially ones that liked her, when it came to him because as well as being unique in regards physical attributes Andy was also a rather rare specimen in regards his morality and personality.

"Andrew." The Commander looked up from his datapad that had all the information he'd typed up about things he could remember from the games and gave a small smile to the nervous-seeming Asari.

"What can I do for you Liara?"

"Kar'Shaal and I are worried about the dynamic of the crew at the current time - it has deteriorated to rather low standards ever since the Pragia mission."

He let out a sigh and placed the datapad on his desk where it automatically locked with an eternity-code algorithm of his own design and sat back with a nod. "I know, and don't think for a second that I'm not worried as well. I've taken, and _am_ taking a big risk with this course of action in regards dealing with Jack. It has every chance of going pear shaped and blowing up in my face, but… if it works like I hope it will then Jack will understand me better, and hopefully we can get closer."

"So you are risking the crew, us, for a personal relationship?"

Her tone wasn't accusing, but rather confused and curious, and he shook his head in the negative, "Not at all Liara; I wouldn't risk anybody on my crew. Jack was always anti-social with you two, and it's me that'll get kicked in the face if this turns back on me and she lets her anger and past experiences dictate her actions. I'm powerful enough to contain her, so neither of you are at risk. Even though I like her, and care a great deal for her, and want to help her, that doesn't mean that I'd put you two in danger just to get ahead in our relationship."

Liara's nodded with a thankful smile and went up to the cockpit of the ship, likely to inform Kar about what he had said, and Andy gave yet another sigh before hauling himself from his own seat and walking up after giving them a couple of minutes to discuss the issue in private. He looked out at the rapidly approaching citadel and gave a small smile; his eyes glittering with restrained awe. Back on Earth, at least the one where he was born, there wasn't a single piece of art or architecture as incredible as the one in front of him. It seemed to glitter in the void of space, and he shook his head slightly as he thought about its true purpose; as a gateway for the Reapers.

"This is Destiny Ascension," came the hailing a few seconds later, "please identify yourself."

Andy leant forwards; his hands resting on the back of Kar's chair. "This is Andrew Kronos; Commander of the Icharus. I'm sending through advance credentials now."

He flickered through a series of programs on his Omni-tool, and a moment later the feminine voice came over the speakers once more. "Credentials received and verified - welcome back Mister Kronos. Your docking bay is clear and ready to receive you; we hope you enjoy your stay."

"Will do Control, Kronos out."

"I knew that they had 'rich people' protocols, but that's just ridiculous! Do they have C-Sec waiting at the docks to check if we're smuggling or anything?"

Andy shook his head with a wide grin and started walking towards the stairs, "The benefits of being rich Kar." He ignored the muttered, "Bosh'tet" and walked half-way down the stairs before bellowing out, "Jack, we're docking in five minutes - get ready to head out."

He hesitated for a moment, hoping for a reply, but gave a resigned sigh when none came even after thirty seconds of waiting and returned to the bridge before heading up to his cabin and getting changed into his smartest clothes befitting of his supposed status in society; he had to look the part when he stepped off a private dock after all. Returning to the deck he watched as Kar expertly manoeuvred the ship into position and initiated the docking clamps with an almost inaudible hiss. As the three made their way to the airlock they caught sight of Jack emerging from the lower deck and silently accepted her into the group when she entered along with them. It was a tense few seconds as the decontamination cycle ran its course, but finally the outside hatch opened and allowed them to advance onto the Citadel.

They were surrounded by expensive and egotistically spacious apartments that had their own private gardens; both a complete luxury on the Citadel where space was in high demand. Andy led them down the path that ran perpendicular to the housing complexes, and then finally stopped outside one of the biggest ones on the entire block. Grinning at all three of his companions' gaping expressions he made his way up to the front door and opened it with a wave of his Omni-tool, which quickly initiated a decryption program that would take even a Geth mainframe five days to brute force, and if such an event came to pass then he'd be alerted the moment the hack began. He hadn't yet visited the new apartment; he'd sold off Cerberus' when he was on Omega and purchased this one immediately after the sale. He'd taken one look at the space and facilities it contained and he was sold, with subtle bartering like the basement level which spanned a massive 60 meters squared underground being reinforced with barriers to withstand biotics, and a gym installed along with various other equipment.

The realtor had wisely _not_ asked why he needed a lead-lined operating theatre.

Looking around he found himself grinning despite himself; it was all he'd ever envisioned his dream house to be, and more. Finally turning back around to face his comrades and friends he smiled and waved his arm towards the stairs, "Well follow me and I'll give you the tour."

They were amazed at the luxury each of their rooms had, and were more than shocked when Andy informed them that they were officially theirs for as long as they liked - none more surprised than Jack. Each room had walls that could be changed to display any scene or landscape the owner wished, and give the smells of the scene to make it as lifelike as possible to boot, as well as having their own ensuite, miniature kitchen and bar, terminal, walk-in wardrobe, and a king-sized bed that put any ship quarters to shame, even his own on the Icharus.

He then led them back onto the ground floor which had a fully-equipped kitchen, and took them through the deliciously spacious living room that was coloured a crème colour just like the rest of the house. On a whim he changed the entire colour scheme of the house to neon pink, but quickly readjusted it when Jack and Kar's protests nearly burst his eardrums. He had to admit that he quite liked the current deep crimson, swirling, fluid-like feature walls and neutral colours far, far better than the pink. Liara spent ten minutes looking around the operating room to check its suitability for surgery, and in the end, with wide eyes, proclaimed it the most advanced and capable theatre she had ever seen. The outdoor pool in the backyard was the next stop, and Kar could only shake his head at the spectacle; to the Quarian race, hell, even to any _Citadel_ race, the space wasted was phenomenal.

The basement was a highlight for everyone, especially Jack when Andy outlined the protections it had around it to prevent any structural damage from biotics. He had a bad feeling that she took that as a challenge to actually _manage_ that precise feat, but put that thought aside when she caught his eye and then immediately looked away, a frown marring her brow. After getting a quick bite to eat the four made a few trips backwards and forwards to the ship in order to bring their clothes, some armour, and other belongings to their respective rooms, and Andy spent that time creating new cyphers for his crews' Omni-tools; his home, as far as he was concerned, was now their home too. Of course their rooms would be private, but any other place they'd have access to.

Finally they had finished and Andy collapsed back onto the sim-leather couch that sat in front of the huge holo-screen in the lounge. Liara and Kar joined him a moment later on some of the other chairs, and Jack hovered near the stairs leading upwards to their rooms. He leant forwards after a moment and gave a small smile. "I know it's going to sound weird, well perhaps not to Kar because we've known each other for a couple of years, but I trust each and every one of you with my life." Jack looked especially surprised at this revelation, but her frown returned with more force than previously a moment later.

Andy put it aside for later thought.

"So this place is just as much yours as it is mine. Of course if you stab me in the back you'll not be coming back here, but I consider you all friends. Liara," he smiled at the Asari in question, "already knows that in just under two years we'll be getting recruited by John Shepard, dependant on us making a name for ourselves of course. Once that happens we won't be coming by here for a while, if ever, as we'll be aboard his ship stopping this universe from getting destroyed. For the time being however, feel free to come and go as you please, but if you run out of something or use the last pack of bread or whatever then please place a requisition order to the apartment's system. I know it seems trivial, but if I come down one morning and find that I don't have bread for a sandwich I'm liable to throw a fucking tantrum, and you don't want that."

He saw a smile twitch at Jack's lips while Liara just looked at him like he was mad, and he sent the latter a grin; not wanting the former to know that he'd caught the amusement in her expression - it seemed that she wanted to keep up the brooding appearance for the moment. Looking at his Omni-tool he stifled a yawn and gave them all a smile. "Well it's six ninety four Citadel time so I'm going to make myself something to eat and then head off to bed; it's been a long day and I could do with some shut eye or a nice, long bath… maybe both." Without waiting around to see the reactions to his statement he headed to the kitchen and quickly whipped himself up a few sandwiches with _genuine_ cheese and ham, sculled down half a bottle of milk, and then made his way contentedly to his bedroom.

It was notably more advanced and larger than the others, but he had decided that he deserved a little bit more considering it was his money that'd paid for the place… at least some of it was - technically Cerberus funded the greater part of it with the sale of their apartment, but who was taking down specifics? He had just changed into his sim-silk boxers (real silk was a complete rip-off in his opinion, and sim-silk lasted longer anyway) and was about to head into the bathroom to draw himself a bath when his door flashed green and chimed pleasantly, indicating that somebody was wanting entrance. Having an idea who it was already he allowed it with a, "Come in," and a second later it hissed open to reveal Jack standing outside looking uncharacteristically nervous. He pulled on a singlet as she fidgeted and then sat down at his desk chair before motioning that she should come inside.

She gave an unsure nod and entered; sitting down on the spare chair on the other side of his bed, and then looked anywhere but him. It took several minutes of silence before she finally managed to blurt out, "I'm fucking sorry, okay?" and Andy gave her an amused look, prompting her to explain when she caught sight of it; her cheeks flushing red in either anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell at first. Her words however, made it abundantly clear. "Look Kronos, I don't know what the fuck you're playing at; whether it's one of your mind-screwing tricks or what… but I miss you coming down and just hanging around." Knowing that she was intentionally and consciously presenting herself in a vulnerable position he wiped all amusement off his face and nodded seriously as she continued letting her frustrations out. "Those three days before Pragia; you came down and just… like, fucking talked. You didn't touch, you didn't push, you didn't bribe, you didn't stare, and you just talked to me like I was the most normal fucking thing in the universe. People've never done that Kronos, fucking never."

"Well I'd say they do, else what am I?"

She met his eyes for a brief second before jumping to her feet and beginning to pace backwards and forth in front of him; blue occasionally flaring over her skin as her emotions ran rampant. "You didn't even lie when I asked you whether or not you liked me Kronos; you just came out and said 'yep, I'm attracted to you', and then you throw away a chance to fuck me. That's not normal Kronos; nobody throws away a fuck with no strings."

He gave a snort, and her head snapped in his direction at the sound. He stared into her eyes while raising his eyebrow, "No strings? If I'd have just, as you put it, fucked you, you mean to tell me everything'd stay the same? I'd bet the moment we were done you'd think of me like scum, and that's not what I am Jack. I didn't come and try and make up because you needed to understand it yourself without me putting a fly in your ear: I'm not fucking normal Jack. I'm barely human anymore, because let's face it: I'm more cybernetics and fusion-tech than anything else. I'm not like any other man you've met, and you need to throw away all your baggage that's screaming at you that I'm just like the rest; that I just want to use you and then toss you aside - because I'm not."

She looked at him, her face unreadable, and he changed the topic so abruptly that she jerked her head back to face him. "Pragia, Jack. When we were in your cell, sort of like now, you were vulnerable… and I swear to God Jack that I mean this in a _non-_bad way, but you were weak." He saw her jaw clench tightly and her eyes light up with anger, but flared his biotics and held his hands up in a show of peace. "Now before you kill me Jack, let me tell you what I saw - right then, and right now. I saw a woman who got fucked over by a human extremist organization; who lived through years of hurt and horror; conditioned to enjoy murder and pain. I saw a woman who'd fought against the odds and broken free; lived her life the best she could with what she had, and I saw that determination in your eyes to fight for something better, despite the fact that you thought that such a thing didn't exist. I saw a woman who was on the path to putting the past behind her, and moving onto something better; an existence free of the haunting spectres. The difference between Pragia and now, Jack, is that right now you don't have a fucking clue what you're feeling, do you?"

The confusion in her eyes, as well as the struggle as the rage tried to come through but was unusually dampened, was enough of an answer for him, and so he continued talking in his calm, measured tone to keep things from turning hostile… because the next bunch of things he was about to say had the potential to get him killed. "When I came down and talked to you, you felt like someone finally understood you right? Could finally relate to the shit you'd been through, at least to an extent." She gave an unsure nod and he nodded back, "Right, and you felt like you could tell me shit without me stabbing you in the back? And that I was telling you the truth even though you were still suspicious?" Again a nod, and more confusion in her eyes, and he took a deep breath. "Okay, and then you found yourself actually looking forward to our little chats, eh? Hell, you even came up to the main deck to sit with me a couple of times."

She nodded again, but her impatience reared its head and was voiced by a frustratedly confused, "Yeah, but what the fuck?"

"Jack, that's what the beginning of a relationship feels like."

We've just lost cabin pressure.

"…the fuck did you just say Kronos?"

"I said," he repeated with a deep breath, "that that is what affection feels like… that's what it feels like to want to be closer to the other person." Silence reigned supreme in the room they both inhabited, and Jack just stared at him with her deep-red lips parted in complete shock. Taking another deep breath he scratched the back of his head. "So considering I'm in line for execution already, I'm going to throw all the cards on the table right here, right now, because I want you to know I'm not fucking around with you, and so you know what I intend to happen. I'm attracted to you, heavily, both in a physical sense and in a mental one too. You're devilishly funny and sarcastic, you're dangerous but you have a softer side that I want to see, and I'm going to be blunt here because I think you'd kill me if I was anything else: your tattoos look fucking sexy.

"What do I want to do with you Jack? Well I'll tell you. I'd like to take you out sometime on a date," he saw anger flare into her eyes, overpowering her shock, and a moment later he found himself pinned to the wall with a very, very pissed off biotic right in his face. A second after that however, she found herself in the reversed position; with _her_ pinned to the wall, and Andy standing in front of her; his biotics whirling around him in a lightshow of blue. She couldn't even speak because of the force he was putting into his restraining efforts. His expression had changed from what it had been earlier; his serenity now gone and replaced instead by a heated frustration. "You'll stay still and _listen_ until I'm done Jack, because this isn't fucking easy for me either!" He saw shock in her eyes once more at the tone he was taking with her, and realized that he was likely the only person who had every dared to speak to her that way and had the means to survive afterwards.

"I know you're not a prissy woman who'd like to go to a nice restaurant and see a vid, and if you think I'm so inconsiderate of you that I'd suggest such a thing then GET THAT OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN HEAD!" By this point his nose was virtually inches away from her own, and his pulsing blue eyes were burning into her shocked, confused, and slightly, the tiniest glimmer, hopeful chocolate orbs. "I'm not looking to change you Jack; I like you just as you are. I like that you're volatile, but I also like that you seem to trust me and respect me enough to forego most of your shell and let me in… to an extent. You know the one thing that truly stands out in my memories of you Jack? It happened exactly…" he peered at his Omni-tool, "seven days, sixteen hours, and seventy three minutes ago. You were talking about moulding your biotics into shapes to increase your control, and you and I played around for a while on the ship table, and then you pulled up Tinkie Winkie from the Telletubbies show over a hundred years ago.

"At that precise moment you bared yourself almost completely to me, whether you knew it or not. You pretty much told me that you still wanted that innocence; that childhood dream of happiness, and I could see it in your face. You were watching me like a hawk to see my reaction; whether I'd laugh at you, reject you, make fun of you… and when I moulded my biotics into Dipsy… do you have any idea just how breathtakingly beautiful you are when you genuinely smile Jack?" He watched her eyes widen, but he forged on - he'd committed himself to this course of action now, and there was no turning back. He knew it was too sudden, too emotionally _huge_ to throw onto Jack all at once, and he knew that it could take days, weeks, hell, even months for her to work her way through what he'd said and her emotions to his words, but to pull out now could ruin it for good. "Your whole face lights up; your eyes soften and become warm; and you just seem to… become another person." It was then he saw the panic entering her eyes, and he nodded his head. "That's right Jack; I've seen _you_."

He felt his biotics suddenly strain against the huge burst of energy Jack put forth, but tamed it albeit with a herculean effort. "STOP!"

Once more her shock at being talked to in such a way distracted her long enough for him to reign her in and completely suppress her, and he stared right into her eyes. "I'm not like all the others," he murmured quietly, "I'm not going to use you, I'm not going to throw you aside, I'm not going to leave you, and I'm not going to betray you. I'm not going to kill you, and you're not going to kill me, because you _can't_, and you know it. Now Jack, I'm going to do something risky right now. I'm going to do something that I'm sure you'd normally kill a man for if they did it to you, and I want you to concentrate on how it feels." He saw her eyes light up with terror and absolute horror at what she thought he was implying, but he went ahead before she could work herself up into a complete frenzy.

All at once he released her from his biotic hold, and at the very same moment wrapped his arms around her slim body before pulling her into a warm, soft embrace. If anything she became even stiffer _after_ he'd released her from his biotic restraints. "This is what it can feel like to not be alone Jack," he murmured by her ear; the biotic amp blinking away by his lips, "this is what it can feel like to have somebody by your side that will do _anything_ for you… except it feels even more amazing than this." Lifting his head away from her ear he hesitantly, but tenderly pressed his lips to the top of her head in a chaste kiss before resting his chin there for a second. "This is what it can feel like, if you embrace it, allow it to happen, give into it… this is just a fraction of what it can feel like if it evolves and turns into love Jack."

The two stood there, silent, for minutes until Andy pulled away and almost smiled at the reluctance in Jack's body to allow him to do so. Despite the fact that she hadn't returned the hug her body still leant towards his when he let her go, but he took a step back so it was impossible without her being conscious of it. She looked completely lost; out of her depth, and he took pity on her. He let out a sigh and returned to his seat by his desk before looking at her again, and saw her staring right back at him - her eyes holding a whirlwind of emotion; confusion, fear, hope, anger, softness… all at once. It was an almost overpowering thing to see. "Jack, I've said all I think I can say on this matter. I want to… explore the connection we have and see where it goes. I'd very much like it to turn into a romantic relationship, but if it stays as friendship I'd be happy as well, though not as happy as with the former option. I've said what I want to say, and I've said it because I've been thinking about it for a long time, and you haven't." He pointed to the door leading back out into the hallway, and it hissed open at his action. "I'm sorry I slammed you with all this at once, but I know you don't like bullshit, so I've put my cards on the table… and I don't want to fight you, because I like you too damn much, and you need to blow off your emotions. Head down to the basement and use the holographic combat simulator, and then get some sleep, 'kay?"

She nodded mutely before turning on her heel and walking silently out of the room, and the door hissed shut behind her before locking with a small, almost inaudible snap. Andy stared at the space Jack had been standing mere moments before for several seconds, and then buried his face in his hands with a groan, "What the _fuck_ did I do that for?"

* * *

It had been four weeks since the night-time confrontation between Jack and Andy, and while they had talked it had only ever been about the couple of freelance missions they'd done, and the planning for the attack on the Shadow Broker. Andy found himself seriously missing the talks they'd had on board the Icharus, but under the circumstances he wasn't surprised, nor could he be mad at anybody but himself for the state of affairs he found himself involved in. He had sat Kar and Liara down one morning when Jack was down in the basement working out her biotics against the virtual system and told them what was happening, as he believed they had the right to know what was going on in the team dynamic, and they had thanked him for the consideration before agreeing not to aggravate the situation in any way.

At that moment Andrew was in the kitchen drooling over a monster sandwich he had made. It was literally twenty centimetres high, and he was more than a little proud of the achievement. He was just about to take a bite into it when a familiar voice broke his concentration, and grip, which sent the sandwich falling apart and into the plate in front of him; reduced to a mess of meats, bread, cheeses, and greens. He looked like somebody had just shot his puppy. "Whoops," murmured Jack with a smirk, and he turned his eyes onto her; blasting forth with the full force of his perfected googly-eyes - excess moisture and all. She blanched at the expression, and quickly took on a look of fear and terror when she felt herself wanting to apologise. "Fuck off!" she yelled before he could reduce her further, and he dropped the act before sending her a grin, picking up a fork, spearing a few of the morsels that used to be in his sandwich, and eating them.

"Hey, you ruined one of the best sandwiches I've ever made Jack, you deserved _The Look_."

She snorted with what passed as laughter for her, and then stared at him as he quickly demolished the meal and then placed the dirty kitchenware in the washer. She was silent for several moments, and Andrew made sure to keep himself moving around pretending to be busy in order to prevent any awkwardness - it was the first time in four weeks that she'd actively sought him out, and he wasn't about to screw it up because he made her feel uncomfortable. He noted that she was once again wearing the skin-tight black tank-top he'd brought her to wear on the Icharus; it had apparently become her favourite piece of clothing bar her boots. "The offer still open for those lessons on manipulating and shit… Andrew?"

Hiding his complete and utter shock at the question was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, and for multiple reasons. Firstly, she'd actually _asked_ for help… pretty much - and that was something that she'd only ever done once in the game, and that was asking Shepard to nuke Pragia. Thinking about the relationship in the game forced jealousy to rise up in his gut; the thought of another man being with Jack now that he'd truly met her made him feel nauseous. Secondly she'd called him by his _name,_ not Kronos, not even Andy, but Andrew and that was something that he'd _never_ thought would happen. He could feel the hope bubbling up in his chest, but all thoughts of that went out the proverbial window when he looked up, and found his jaw unconsciously slackening.

Jack; the infamous, dangerous, hateful, ruthless biotic… was blushing.

Somewhere a crate of ice skates had been shipped to Hell.

Forcing himself to come to his senses and actually answer the woman he nodded and forced away his shock - instead giving her a wide smile. "Sure, you want to start now?" Nodding with a look of surprise on her face he motioned for her to follow him and walked down into the basement. Liara and Kar were using the gym, and hid their expressions at seeing the two together very well; simply continuing their workout as if nothing were amiss. Leading Jack into the centre of the biotical area he called up his Omni-tool and rerouted all power to the shielding grid.

Liara and Kar looked up anxiously as the lights flickered and then dimmed, and watched with awe as the shields entered the visible spectrum; latticing all around the area that surrounded Jack and Andrew. The female biotic eyed the merc warily, her stance indicating her caution, and he smiled at her. "Just precautionary," he assured as he sat down cross-legged and motioned for her to do the same. She did so, and Andy noticed that Liara was standing outside the framework of the shielding looking very interested - and yet at the same time he was flattered he was also annoyed. It had taken him years to figure out how to fully unlock his biotic potential, and he wasn't about to just hand out how he did it willy-nilly; it was something he intended to keep inside his family.

Which was kind of why he was willing to teach it to Jack - because one day he hoped that she'd agree to be with him in a more… permanent way.

Lowering his voice to stop Liara or Kar from listening in, and noting that it added to the mysterious atmosphere, he looked right into Jack's eyes whilst sinking into lecture mode. "I kind of lied in a way about this technique; not anybody can do it - only biotics." Her interest was piqued, as he could see by the gleam in her eye, and he continued. "It does, however, require you to… unleash your biotics." A glimmer of anger this time, and he fixed her with a firm stare that stopped her words even before they formed. "I may like you and be attracted to you Jack, but you have no idea what I can _truly_ do, and you have no concept of what true biotics are - nor do you understand the ramifications of me actually agreeing to teach you this. When I'm teaching you, you are a _student_ and I am the teacher - you listen, and do precisely what I say, because doing otherwise could have your spleen hanging off Kar over there, and the rest of you spread pretty evenly over the rest of the room."

Her mouth snapped shut with an audible click and he nodded when he saw the intensity of her gaze; she respected him enough to let him have control over her, and that thought warmed him more than he thought possible, but he pushed it aside. There would be time to explore that later. "Okay, now there are several things you need to know about this - firstly, if you decide to go through this, you're going to have to be patient… and I mean _very_ patient, as in 'sitting and meditating for five days' patient." Her eyes widened at the figure, but she nodded after a moment, and he gave her an appraising look that made her cheeks flush slightly, and had her wondering just what the hell was going on. Andy caught the flushing of her cheeks, but pretended not to see it. "Second, the process of unshackling your biotics is going to hurt… like an absolute _bitch_. You think you've felt pain? I can guarantee that you haven't."

Her gaze didn't waver, and he almost grinned, '_God she's tough_'. "Right, and then there's the last… problem." He pulled out a syringe from his pocket and an angry glare immediately burned into him.

"What the _fuck_ is that for?" she spat, and he placed it on the ground in-between them before holding his hands out placatingly.

"That, Jack, is a heavy sedative designed to knock you the fuck out when you finally unleash - because you're not going to be able to do it without your amp. The moment you unshackle your true abilities that little addition to your ear is going to kill you… just like mine nearly killed me."

She calmed almost immediately, and almost looked sheepish until she felt something warm on her hand and looked down to see Andrew's covering her own. He let it linger for a moment before withdrawing, and watched as her eyes travelled back up to his looking confused. He was tempted to tell her that what she was feeling was 'comforted', but decided against it; once again, that could be explored _after_ the dangerous part was out of the way. "You see," he explained, "amps focus and amplify conscious electrical impulses in your brain to manipulate Eezo nodules in your nervous system; creating mass effect fields that are actually worth a damn. When you unshackle all that potential, you're going to hit Asari Matriarch levels of biotics at the very least… naturally. That means the control of you biotics are going to go through the roof, and your impulses are going to increase massively in power so that you can harness all that they have to offer."

"Right, so let me get this straight; I do this, I go through some boredom and pain, and then I get powerful as hell… with my amp I'd be fucking unstoppable Andrew, so what's the problem?"

"The problem," he admonished, "is that you'd flood your system with impulses, and your Eezo nodules could implode because of the instability… and as I said, your spleen would end up somewhere over there," he motioned towards where Kar and Liara had returned to their training because they couldn't eavesdrop, and Jack paled slightly.

"Right."

He gave a grin, "Yeah, so that's why I'll need to knock you out. This drug will suppress brain function for around twenty hours; more than enough time to get you into surgery and remove your amp."

She fingered the blinking piece of hardware wrapped around her ear absentmindedly, "So this will be gone then? Forever?" He nodded in the affirmative and her eyes took on a determined glint after a second, "Right then, let's fucking do this and get Cerberus' little tech-toy out of me."

He gave a laugh then, and she looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You're sure as hell not unleashing anything with that," he chuckled, "because I wasn't kidding when I said that you'd be meditating for a few days. It took me two years of meditation to find what you're going to be looking for, but hopefully I'll be able to lead you there without too much problem." He across at her and then gave a hum before standing. "Wait here," he ordered before jogging out of the room and up the stairs to the main floor, and Jack sat there looking at his retreating back with confusion written all over her face. He returned several minutes later carrying a huge bottle of water in one hand and a plate piled with sandwiches in the other. He sat down again and placed the food and water in front of her with a knowing smile, "You're going to need it. Eat it even if you feel like you're going to explode, and don't worry about having to go to the toilet; your body is going to be using every single bit of this for what you're going to be doing."

She nodded and began eating and drinking without complaint, but admittedly by the last cup of water and mouthful of sandwich she was looking rather queasy. She forced it down with a grimace and an uncomfortable shudder. Banishing the plate and bottle away with his biotics he smiled and gently pushed her backwards; his hand on her shoulder. He saw panic enter her eyes as he towered over her, but shook his head with a small smile, "Remember Jack, I'm different." She looked deep into his eyes for several seconds before closing her own and taking in a deep breath, and he watched as her body relaxed. "Good, now I'm going to be here the entire time, just sitting here and talking to you. I need you to listen _very_ carefully to what I say, and do exactly as I order no matter what I ask and how silly it seems, okay?" He got another nod and he got himself settled next to the lying woman.

"Okay Jack, I'm just going to take off your boots okay? It'll make things a bit easier."

She nodded and he began unbuckling her knee-high footwear, a minute later sliding them off her surprisingly slender legs and off her petite feet. He shook his head slightly to clear it of the thoughts he was having; he should have expected such fragility and 'daintiness' from the rest of her slender figure, but her personality, biotics, and clothing offset such an image, and yet now, as she lay beside him, he found her entire figure surprisingly, but in his opinion wonderfully, feminine. He also noted that the tattoos continued even down her legs and onto the tops of her feet, but once again forced himself back to the task at hand. "Okay, now I want you to tense all the muscles in your feet as hard as you can, even if it cramps up." He watched her toes curl towards her soles and the tendons stand up on the tops of her feet with the effort, and then a grimace of pain flicker over her face. "Keep holding it, keep holding it, okay and now stretch and relax."

He repeated the process twice more on her feet before moving onto her calves, and then her thighs, until he was eventually telling her to relax her face for the last time - thinking it adorably cute how she looked when her face was all scrunched up, and how incredibly beautiful it was when she was relaxed. "Good. Now I want you to think of… your room upstairs. I want you to imagine yourself lying on your bed, completely safe. Your door is locked using my locking algorithms, so nobody but _you_ can open it." He watched as her breathing became even slower and gave a smile to himself, at least until panic jerked through her body and she stiffened; her breathing coming in sharp, quick heaves. He immediately placed his hand over her own, and when he spoke his voice was commanding but soothing. "Only I can get in, only me, nobody else; no Cerberus, not rapists, no slavers, no _nothing_. No smells, no pain, no feelings but calm, complete calm, and I'm standing just outside ready to protect you."

To any person who hadn't seen Andy in action his words would have seemed egotistical, but to Jack who had felt the power of his biotics and strength of character it was in fact a very comforting thought, and she relaxed once more. He breathed a sigh of relief when her face turned serene and a slight smile tugged at her lips, and then continued speaking calmly, quietly, and soothingly, all the while wondering just what demons they would have to overcome in order to get deep enough to break the self-imposed hold humanity lauded over her biotics. It turned out that her demons were more frequent and violent than he had anticipated, so much so that she had jerked out of her meditative trance several times screaming in terror and had only calmed both herself and her biotics when Andrew had held her in an embrace for over twenty minutes at the least; his own biotics shielding him from any burns hers would normally wound him with. It had gotten to the point where he had had to resort to extreme measures, and so after another episode that left her shaking once more in his arms he gently lay her back down and gave a sigh. It had been two whole days since they had begun.

Her brown eyes looked up at him, and he could see the barely hidden fear in them that he would force her to delve back in and face the horrors once more. "Do you trust me Jack?"

Fear turned to confusion. "What?"

"Do you trust me? When I said… that night," she stiffened but continued listening, "that I wouldn't use you; that I wouldn't leave you; that I wouldn't betray you… did you believe me? Do you believe me completely?"

She frowned, and turned her head aside to break their eye contact. "That's pretty fucking deep Andy." She waited for several seconds before sneaking a glance up at him, and when she saw his waiting expression she gave a sigh before blushing a deep red and nodding. "Yeah," she whispered, and she felt a wave of heat run through her when she caught sight of his beaming smile. He quickly shook it off however, which she was grateful for because she still hadn't had time to understand or think about how she felt in regards their whole dynamic, and she looked back at him when she saw his mouth open to speak.

"I can help you Jack, with getting past those demons… but if I do it and you don't trust me; you don't accept me, then I'm going to die, painfully and violently."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, and she sat up quickly to stare at him. "What? Why the fuck are you even suggesting it if there's a risk?"

"There is no risk if you trust me, because if you do then I won't die."

She shook her head almost as if in denial, "What the hell are you talking about Andy?"

He shuffled around slightly. "I'm talking about injecting my consciousness into yours through my biotics. It's something akin to Asari melding, but from what I've gathered it's more powerful, but far, far more selective. If I meld with you and you reject it, either consciously or subconsciously, then your own biotics will rip into me, and I won't be able to defend myself; I'll be torn apart piece by piece until I'm dead."

She drew her knees up to her chin, uncharacteristically vulnerable, although it was something Andrew was getting to be more acquainted with, and she stared at him with her searching hazel eyes boring into his icy blue. She murmured something that even his enhanced senses couldn't pick up, and he leant forwards slightly, where she whispered her two words once more. "I'm afraid."

His eyes softened at the confession, and he was both ecstatic and heartbroken at the words; the former because it had taken Shepard, in the game at least, two entire years to get her to lower her shields, and the latter because she _was_ afraid of such a thing as trust. "I know." She looked up in surprise, and he sent her a small smile. "I know you're afraid, and I know you're worried, but I'm not going to stab you in the back, or abandon you. I'm here for as long as you want me, and I'm loyal to myself so nobody's going to manipulate me into breaking that promise. You've said it yourself Jack; I refused your offer for a 'quick fuck', and I know you know how much I meant what I said that night." This time she didn't look away from his eyes at the mention of their conversation four weeks ago, but he could still see the hint of a blush on the skin of her cheeks he could see above her bare knees, and the glimmer of warmth and happiness in her eyes.

"I trust you," she murmured after a couple of moments, as if she was afraid of anybody but him hearing despite the empty room, and he reached over to rest his hand on hers. Surprisingly she moved slightly and intertwined their fingers, and Andy was left in a state of slight shock for several moments, at least until she spoke. "I don't know why the fuck this has happened so fast. I never thought… I always thought I'd be alone; that nobody would ever understand. I never thought I'd feel like this for you… or anyone" she murmured, not once breaking her eyes away from his, "but I do… and I like it. It's what I always thought happiness would be like… but even better, and I want more of it." He smiled and squeezed her hand, and she lifted her face from her knees to smile at him; one of her beautifully genuine smiles that he'd seen only once before. "I want to be in a… relationship with you… a serious one."

He nodded, his own smile lighting up his face. "I'd like that very much, but you're setting the pace, okay? I don't want to hurt you or force you into something you're not ready for."

She nodded, her smile brightening even more, and he leant forward to pull her into a hug which she, for the very first time, returned. The feeling that evoked in Andrew was indescribable. Finally he pulled back, and this time he could feel the reluctance in her arms to let him away from her, but she finally relented. He saw the fully-fledged blush on her face and knew that he was the only person, ever, to have seen her like that, and felt privileged. "So how do we do this?"

He smiled and lay down next to her, and he saw her glance down to their still-intertwined fingers with an almost giddy smile before following his actions and lying down as well; closing her eyes once more, but this time focussing on the warmth of his hand instead of the 'room' she had been in for the past two days. "Now I'm going to push my biotics into you. I've never done this before apart from in simulations, so I don't know what this will feel like to you."

He felt her nod her understanding from beside him and slowly let his energy trickle through his fingers and into her body. He felt her shiver, but then a contented hum growl from the back of her throat. "Feels so warm," she murmured happily, and he let out a sigh of relief before allowing his biotics flow more freely. With more time he became increasingly aware of her being; her breathing, her heartbeat, and after nearly an hour her feelings and emotions. With a sudden spike he felt her panic as he saw the door to her 'room', but swathed his biotics around her mind comfortingly. He looked around the empty hallway with narrowed eyes. Inside Jack's room was her sanctuary and nothing should be able to reach her there, and yet they had… and he could feel _things_ lurking in wait around him. Him being where he was in such a mind was incredibly dangerous; something he had purposefully neglected to mention to Jack when telling her of the consequences.

She thought that the hurdle was her trusting him.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

He was inside a foreign mind, however much the owner of it truly accepted and cared for him, and anything that happened to him in here would be replicated in the outside world because her entire being recognized him as not-self. It was a protection mechanism, and it was deadly effective. Jack's own mind could scare her and hurt her when she was here, but her mind shied away from manifesting that damage physically. It had no such qualms with him. Taking a deep breath he stretched out tendrils of his biotics and felt them snap into place when they found the 'lifeforms' around him; dangerous and very, very powerful lifeforms, he noted uncomfortably. He had a few himself in his own mind, but he had tamed them; had caged them so that he could banish them - and his unleashed biotics had helped with that… but then again the demons hadn't been anywhere near as powerful, and here his biotic potential was severely stunted, as he was using the majority of his power to control his presence within Jack's mind.

His Omni-tool jumped into existence over his arm, and he felt several of the demons shift suddenly; coming closer until he could literally feel their rage and power radiating from just around the corners and within the doorways around him. After a breath he closed the haptic interface down. He couldn't risk _these_ demons getting into Jack's sanctuary; it could completely ruin her. He could feel the rage of her inner monsters increase at the disappearance of his Omni-tool but ignored it in favour of erecting defences around himself and Jack's door, and then slowly charging his mental representation of his Eezo reserves with excess energy from the meld. When they were at full brink he let out a sigh and started his Omni-tool once more, this time engaging the decryption program. In her mind it wouldn't open the door immediately like it would in the real world; her mind was consciously judging him to see whether or not he was worthy of entry, and such a thing took time - mere seconds in the outside world, but minutes here.

The monsters knew this, and so did Andrew, and so they struck.

A horrific creature barrelled towards him with an inhuman roar; chunks of rotting flesh hanging from its bones and teeth, and poison dripping from its claws. When he looked into its empty eye sockets he could see the memory it represented, and felt his entire being flood with untainted fury at the beast in front of him, and of Cerberus. With a roar easily matching the beast's Andrew charged and plunged his arm right through its head before letting loose with a burst of energy that splattered the walls around him with its gore, and the entire place descended into chaos. As their numbers and power grew, so did Andrew's fury and horror at what Jack had had to endure in her life, and complete awe at how she could have even kept the hope of happiness burning. Memory after memory, demon after demon, and monster after monster attacked him until the hallway was a veritable gore-ground. Blood was splattered all over the walls, and remains of demons surrounded the panting biotic as he pulled more energy into his nodules.

And then Andrew felt the ground shake.

He turned his head towards the sound and watched with fearful but determined eyes as the beast's head came into view, and then its massive, disfigured torso, followed by its clawed, charred feet. It was easily the most disturbing, and horrifying thing he had ever before seen. His own demons were mere fluffy cats compared to the monster that was stood at the end of the hallway staring at him, and it was with a clenched heart that he looked it dead in the eyes.

"Oh god," he whispered as the memory rushed through him, and he fell to his knees with tears running down his face. Andrew had never cried, not once, in this universe. If he counted it in years, it had been over ten since he had actually shed a tear, and yet this one memory and the knowledge that it belonged to the most important person in his life… it nearly broke him. He didn't notice the huge _thing_ charging towards him until he found himself impaled through the shoulder with one of its claws, and then shaken violently off into one of the walls where he felt his ribcage light up as if doused in fire. For the first time his own blood joined the blood of the immortal demons he had defeated for the time being, and he looked up with pain clouding his vision as the monster charged once more; a physical manifestation of the darkest horror he had ever experienced.

And then Andrew White, the twenty one year old biotic-infiltrator-mercenary hybrid, snapped. With a bestial roar his body was surrounded by a nimbus of blue light, and when the beast swung its great claws at him once more he grabbed the offending limb and tore it right off before leaping forwards and jumping onto it; latching his hands around its neck as it roared and pounded on him with its remaining arm in an attempt to get him off. He felt something in his leg snap when a particularly violent hit slammed into him, but ignored the blackness seeping into the edges of his vision as he clambered upwards, flipped himself around so that he had both legs over the beast's shoulders, grabbed onto its rotting, disfigured head, and then tore it right off.

Its movement stopped immediately, and Andy clambered off it; his broken leg collapsing agonizingly under him when he landed on the ground with a thud, but he watched through pained eyes as it collapsed and fell still with a sickeningly wet thud. Mere seconds afterwards the door dinged behind him, and he turned his head over his shoulder to see Jack staring at him with complete shock, and then worry as she took in his bloodied, injured state. "Oh fuck!" He allowed her to drag him inside the room, biting his lip painfully as his ruined leg trailed behind him to stifle the screams that wanted to escape his lips, and then watched as she took one last look out the door at the carnage before locking it again and hurriedly running to his side where she knelt down and was about to say something, but he cut her off before she could.

"No, you need to go and lie down." She looked at him like he was mad and he gave her a stern stare, "Now! I've brought you some time by defeating them, but they'll regenerate soon enough so now's your chance. Listen very carefully Jack, because I need to leave this place and get Liara to come and help me. You need to go and lie down and calm yourself, don't worry I'll be fine, okay?" She gave him a small, timid nod, and he nodded back. "Right, you need to meditate here like you did in the real world, and just keep sinking deeper and deeper. You'll start feeling a resistance, and it'll be strong. That's your mindscape. It'll hurt, horribly, but you need to use your biotics like a knife and cut through it; revealing what lies underneath. My unleashed power being here has weakened it enough to allow you a chance at this. You'll feel pulsing through the cut you make, like a heartbeat, and you need to focus on that and follow it to where it starts. You'll see something like a spider web, at least that's what I found, and small blips travelling around it. That's your nervous system, and the big balls around the web are your Eezo nodules, and you need to pop them; every single one except the one at the very centre. That one will absorb the rest, and the pain will be unbearable - especially when it pops itself. I can't sedate you until you're past that stage. Do you understand everything I've told you?"

She nodded tearfully, and the worry in her eyes increased when he let out a hacking cough and blood droplets hit her face. "Andrew-"

"No, go and do it now. I'll be alright after a week or so."

"But you're in my mind?"

"I lied," he admitted with a grunt, "everything that happens to me here happens to me out there, so I'm gonna be hurting for a while - but I'm okay with that," he assured her when the pain entered her eyes, "because this needed to be done. What's a little bit of pain to help you heal, eh? Now if you want to help me then get on that bed and start meditating. I'll see you when you come out, and then I'll sedate you pretty snappish. I'll be okay when you wake up again, okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, and then leant forwards to press a chaste kiss to his forehead, much like he'd done to her just over four weeks previously. He gave a weak smile as she blushed and walked away, and then retracted himself painfully from her mind. He let out a gasp as he re-entered the real world once more, and winced as fire tore up his side. Hurrying, as time passed quicker in the mind than in reality, he called Liara on his Omni-tool. She answered almost immediately, and gasped when she saw his bloodied lips. "Get down here right now," he wheezed, "and prep the operation room. Jack's about to release her potential, and I'm going to sedate her. I need you to remove her amp."

"But you're injur-"

"And we'll all die if her amp isn't removed once she wakes up," he growled painfully. "I'll heal quickly enough; I'm designed to. Just get down here now, and keep Kar away; his suit could get punctured with all the energy about to go flying."

She winked out of existence a moment later after nodding, and seconds after that Jack's eyes shot open and a piercing scream left her lips as she collapsed her Eezo nodules and forced all of their power into a single point, which would soon collapse itself. Even knowing that the power she would receive would help her heal her psyche couldn't detract from the guilt and pain he felt from seeing her in such agony, and he picked the syringe up from the floor before crawling closer to her. The moment they locked eyes he could see the awareness in her brown orbs, and he lifted the syringe before jabbing it right into her chest; puncturing through the muscle and injecting the contents right into her heart. Even her enhanced biotics couldn't purge the sedative for long, and five seconds later she fell silent as her mind was forced into an induced coma.

Liara ran into the room a moment later with a pack on her back and hurried through the barrier before rushing to his side. He waved her off frustratedly and pointed to Jack. "Her first," he murmured, and she gave him a small glare which he easily rebuffed with one of his own; so dark that she looked hurriedly away and immediately begun preparing Jack for surgery. He saw Kar run out of the lift with two gurneys, and he gave a small smile to himself as he saw Jack's peaceful face beside his. "Now you can heal," was the last thing he said before drifting into blissful unconsciousness.


	5. Battles for Power

Much to Andrew's expectation it had taken him a week to begin nearing anywhere near normal from the injuries he sustained whilst in Jack's mind, but he was well on the way to recovery when the young woman was brought out of her coma just eight days after releasing her biotics. Andrew watched as she stirred, and then slowly open her eyes to the dim room that she was lying in, and she looked around with a confused expression before peering up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are we in my mind?"

He shook his head with a warm smile; squeezing her hand. "Nah, you're out now. Everything went okay; your amp's gone." He watched her reach to her ear and smile. "And from what I can sense all of your power's spread evenly around your body, which is what we wanted."

It was then she caught sight of the splint his leg was in and she looked into his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Did it hurt?"

"Tickled," he shot right back and she gave him a wide grin.

"Good; I don't want no fucking pussy for a partner."

He gave her a mock frown, "Now that's nowhere near sappy enough Jack, I think we can migrate past 'partners' and go to 'boyfriend and girlfriend', don't you?" Her scowl was answer enough and he gave a chuckle before nodding amiably, "Alright, partners it is… in fact that's why you like it." At her confused expression he looked away innocently and said, "Because it sounds more like we're married, yeah?"

A huge, red blush rocketed onto her cheeks and he gave a yelp when she hammered her fist right into his shoulder. He felt the entire limb go numb with the force of the punch but gave a laugh anyways. "Fucker," she muttered with the blush still on her cheeks, and he just squeezed her hand in return before shuffling around to get more comfortable. "So what now?"

"Well now's the hardest part, and that's training you to utilize your biotics without your amp. By the end of it all you'll notice you can make your mass effect fields do things you thought previously impossible, and that it's a whole lot more powerful to boot."

"Sounds pretty fucking good to me."

"Jack, punching somebody in the face on live holovision sounds good to you." She gave a sheepish grin and he rolled his eyes with a smile. They sat like that for nearly an entire hour before Andrew spoke, and she could tell that even though he was saying the words and meant them, it was still hard. "Hey… I meant what I said about this whole relationship Jack; if you think it's going too fast then just say so. I mean, it's only been a couple of weeks together and… you've changed so much - not that I'm complaining," he assured her before she could interrupt, "in fact I really like the new you. You smile, and you're… lighter, and I like that a lot, but it's so different from what you've been for the last twenty three years, and I can't help but wonder if you're just faking it."

Her expression darkened slightly, but she nodded her understanding and didn't release his hand, which made him feel a little better. "I know," she murmured, "… and I am faking it a little. You're… you're the first person who's ever wanted me for me, and who's wanted me to be happy, and… well I just thought that if I was a bit more normal you'd like me more."

"Jack, I don't want normal; I want you, so cut the acting out and be yourself. Don't force yourself to change; just let it happen naturally, if it happens at all, 'kay?"

She gave a smile and a nod, "Got it… and thank you."

He shook his head and squeezed her hand once more before standing and stretching with a groan, "No problem. You want something to eat? It's been over a week since we put you under."

Both heard her stomach growl, and she looked up at him with a smirk. "I think that means go and get me some fucking food, Fucker."

His grin nearly split his face, "Fuck you too Jack."

* * *

The music of Chora's Den pulsed around the two hidden in a shadowed booth like a whirlwind, and two sets of eyes looked out upon the dance floor where dancers twisted and moved; the majority of them completely off their faces on Hellex or Mex and getting groped if they were women, or pickpocketed if they were men. "Fucking weak," commented the one on the left as they sipped on a glass of neon-purple drink, and the second nodded their agreement when he saw one particularly high patron not notice when one of the thieves lifted up their arm, tapped firmly at their wrist to remove the Omni-chip, and then walk away Goddess knows how many credits richer.

"You ever done drugs?" The one on the right asked, and their companion, clearly a woman when her lips came to suck on the straw in her glass, shook her head.

"Nup, Cerberus fucked me enough without me adding to it all. I like my head as clear as it can be. What about you Fucker?"

Andrew had learned in the last couple of days that 'Fucker' was an endearment from Jack that she reserved only for him, and had watched as Kar had discovered that 'bitch bucket' was _not_ an endearment… and that he had gained it as a permanent title. "Nope," he replied as he sipped at his own glass, "not once… well apart from alcohol but that doesn't really count eh?" It was a rhetorical question, and Jack just sat back and waited. "Seen a lot though; pretty common in the school I went to. Fucked a lot of people up, and I had no desire to follow in their footsteps."

"Good."

"Yep, I thought so." He took another sip and then motioned to the barkeep who came over to listen to Andrew's whispered request in his ear. After a nod and a quick transfer of funds had occurred he turned back to Jack and leant forwards. "Right, so this is training 101 for the time being." She lit up at the mention of training, and he grinned as the Turian barman returned holding a pack of cigarettes in his hand and a lighter, which he threw to Andrew before returning to his post at the main counter. In answer to her confused and slightly disgusted expression, he explained. "The main thing about us now is not how much power we hold, but the control we have over it. We can do some fucking amazing things now, and all you've got to do is learn how to use them." He handed her a cigarette, which she took with a look of distain, and then picked up one himself. "First thing we can do is create a mass effect field _inside_ our bodies. We can filter out things we don't want, increase strength and speed, distort out visibility - which'll be useful for you because you have no invisibility implants like I do - and a whole other number of things by creating fields around certain parts of our bodies. This is lesson one; how to shield your lungs from contaminants. I'll be honest; I hate smoking, and that's why this is such a good thing to practice with… and from the look on your face it'll work well for you too."

"I fucking _hate_ these death sticks Fucker."

"I figured," he returned with a small smirk as his cigarette and took a puff, "so listen up, else you're going to be tasting the damn things and sucking in smoke to tar up your lungs. You ever studied the human anatomy? What the respiratory system is like?" She shook her head and he brought up a program on his Omni-tool, pointing out the process. "So we suck air in through our nose and mouth, heads down here, our windpipe, branches off into our lungs, and then oxygen gets taken into our blood through these tiny little sacs. What you're about to do is cover the inside of your mouth, windpipe, and lungs with a mass effect field that'll only allow air through it."

"Andy," she drawled, "I haven't been able to feel my biotics since I woke up."

"That's because you're looking for your nodules… and you don't have any now."

"Well then how the fuck am I supposed to use biotics?" she growled at him, panic rising, and he leant across to grip her hand with his.

"What'd I say Jack?"

She looked into his eyes for several seconds before squeezing his hand and giving a small sigh. "You'll never stab me in the back. Alright, how do I do it?"

He smiled and then retrieved his hand to close the program on his Omni-tool. He shuffled around so he was sitting right next to her and wouldn't have to yell over the music. "Okay, this place is perfect to find it - the pulsing music is just right. Close your eyes." She did so and started taking deep breaths, and he gave her a smile despite the fact that she couldn't see. "Now just focus on the beat and what I say, that's all; there's nothing else." He gave her five minutes, and then spoke once more. "The air around you, focus on it. Feel it as you breathe it in; feel the thickness and the way it tastes; the way it moves in your lungs. Forget what you've felt before; you're different now; feel the way that it _is_ - you can literally _feel_ what it looks like, and what it tastes like; how big each molecule is, what shape it is."

Slowly her breathing got deeper, and he nodded to himself after another five minutes. "Now focus on the pulse again, and feel the pulse, but also look for the source of the power in the pulse; what makes it move the air." Another five minutes, "Have you found it?" A nod. "Good, now _see_ the pulse; each one as a bubble that contains the power. Feel the pulse in your veins; feel your veins fill with those bubbles' power." Another nod, this one accompanied by a smile, "Now concentrate those bubbles into your lungs, feel them take up all the space in your lungs until you can't breathe, and then flatten those bubbles against the sides of your lungs so that they make one big bubble; a shield around your lungs." He saw her breathing stop, and a look of worry appear on her face. "Now think of the air, think of the bubble shield making holes for the air, but nothing else; just the air. They open when each molecule comes near, and then close as soon as they have gone through." Her breathing started again, and a look of triumph came over her face.

"Now the hard part; open your eyes, come back into the club, but keep that field around your lungs; protecting them."

Her eyes fluttered open, and immediately they filled with frustration as she felt the field collapse and disappear. "Fuck!"

He gave a laugh and nodded, "Tough, isn't it?"

She growled and then closed her eyes with a stubborn look on her face, "Again!"

And so he led her through it all over again, and again and again she failed to maintain the field when her concentration was split over all the elements of reality. After three hours she groaned and slammed her head against the table, or would have had Andrew not slipped his hand underneath it at the last moment. Raising her head from his hand she leant back and gave a frustrated growl. "Why the fuck can't I just do it? It can't be _that_ hard."

"It actually is," he laughed, "think about it Jack; Asari take years to learn how to use Fortify, and that's easy compared to this, because you're manipulating a mass effect field _within_ the vessel, your body, that contains your Eezo supply."

"Well where the fuck _is_ my Eezo supply? I don't have fucking nodules anymore!"

"It's in every single cell in your body," he grinned, "and your body is constantly producing more of it, as well as drawing it from the environment. From what I can gather, and from my research, you and I are the only two beings in the Universe that have managed to achieve a self-sustaining biotic force."

"Holy shit," she said as her eyes widened, "are you fucking kidding me?"

"…No, no I'm not," he admitted, "and the whole thing gives a new… dimension to the whole humanity debate. I took a sample of my cybernetic muscle tissue a while ago, and when I took it out of my body it was normal; just like it should be, but when I did a study while it was still _inside_ my body, each nucleus was surrounded by a mass effect field. About a year back I had some free time and spent six weeks in bed with a probe in my leg monitoring the cells around it."

"Well that was fucking stupid; how the fuck did you not go batshit crazy? Lying around for six weeks?"

"It was not fucking stupid," he protested, "in fact I found out something pretty flipping amazing if you ask me." She cocked her head to the side and he grinned, "Turns out that cells that were meant to only last a couple of days instead lasted around four _weeks_, and when they died and created a new cell to replace them, the nucleus and DNA in the daughter cell was completely identical."

She looked at him blankly and he searched for an appropriate metaphor, but discovered that because of modern technology he didn't have the best one, but settled for a reasonable explanation. "Okay, if you get six hundred humans in a line and tell the first one a sentence, and then that sentence gets whispered to the next person, and the next person, and the next until it reaches the last, do you think the message will be the same?"

"Fuck no," she snorted, and he grinned.

"Exactly, and it's the same principal with cell reproduction. Corruption of DNA occurs in a cell because of chemical imbalance, movement, random errors, and other factors, and so the daughter cells are less perfect than the parent cells… give that a hundred years and your DNA's getting pretty shabby, and that's why we age. He gave her a minute to absorb what he had said and then grinned, "And that protective field, well that eliminates chemical imbalance, movement, and the majority of 'other factors', and that just leaves us with random errors, which would suggest…"

It took about ten seconds of frowning, but finally her eyes widened until she looked ridiculous. He had to admit however, that he hadn't been much better when he'd made the discovery, in fact he'd been running around his apartment whooping and yelling for nearly five minutes before he'd calmed down enough to realize that the probe was still sticking out of his leg and he'd been bleeding all over the carpet. "No fucking way…"

"Yes fucking way," he assured her with a huge grin, "the errors were cut down by over eight hundred percent if I go with random error included, which means multiply our lifespans by _eight_."

"Andrew?"

He cocked his head, "Yeah?"

"I fucking love you right now; maybe not romantic love… yet, but I fucking love you."

* * *

Jack was puffing on a cigarette like it was a dehydrated man's water, and Liara was looking at the biotic with no small amount of disgust. Andrew, knowing why the young woman was looking so chuffed as she sucked down the smoke, instead paid attention to the absolutely stunning, and he had to admit arousing, sight in front of him. Jack was lying out on the deck in front of the pool; reclined on one of the sun chairs that surrounded it, but it wasn't her location that had Andrew staring, it was what she was _wearing_. A blood-red bikini top covered her breasts, and although he has seen her wearing just a strap for quite some time, there was just something about the bikini top that had him positively drooling; and she was wearing a pair of board shorts that came to mid-thigh in matching colours - the overall outfit showing off far, far more of her tattooed skin than any of her other outfits ever had.

"That's very unhealthy Andrew," she murmured so that only he could hear, "with such consumption her chances of suffering from lung cancer are increased by over fifteen percent, and respiratory problems will onset within the next year or two."

He waved the Asari maiden off with a shake of his head, "Nah, she'll be okay."

"Andrew, I must insist-"

"Liara," he cut her off with a reassuring smile, "she'll be fine, trust me. It's another one of those things."

It only took her a second. "It is to do with what happened in the basement three weeks ago, is it not?" He gave a noncommittal shrug, and she frowned. "Andrew, your biotics are above what I have ever before experienced," _'Yeah, and you think you've seen me at full noise too, don't you?'_, "and you have both control and power matching the most experienced Matriarchs in our race. Such information of how you achieved such a thing could revolutionise biotics!"

"And also lead to more wars," he interrupted, "because if everybody was as powerful as I am, and as Jack soon will be, then imagine the chaos Liara. There'd be wars more violent and destructive than you could imagine. The damage human biotics have done in wars has been immense, and generally we're about twenty times less powerful than an Asari matriarch at best… imagine the damage that could be done with a battlefield of Matriarch-level biotics Liara, or stronger... like I am. I've decided that I am going to keep the method of unlocking potential strictly within my family, and _nothing_ will sway me from that decision."

"But Jack-"

"Is special," he interrupted before pulling her inside so that there was no chance of him being overheard. "Liara… I'm falling in love with Jack." Her eyes widened, but he forged on, "And I don't care whether people look down on us or what, but I think she's starting to fall for me too. She won't say until she's ready, but the way she acts when we're just alone is completely different from how she acts when we're in view of you, Kar, and anybody else. Liara, she lets me hold her hand," he saw her eyebrows rise in surprise, and no small amount of shock, "and every night before she goes to bed she comes into my room and we just talk, and then she hugs me before she leaves… and she lets me kiss her forehead."

"Sh- Jack initiates intimate touches?" He never thought he'd see Liara ruffled, and yet this revelation seemed to do the trick.

"Yes, she does, and when I kiss her goodnight she smiles at me Liara; an innocent, happy smile, and I know that _nobody_ else has _ever_ seen her like that but me. I'm pretty sure she's falling for me Liara, and so I consider her family… even if we never get married, I don't think we could be any less than friends, and I have a feeling that even that would never be enough. She's smoking six packs a day because it's an achievement. Not one single molecule of tar is sticking in her lungs; not one molecule of smoke is even touching any part of her insides because she's projecting a mass effect field inside her respiratory system to prevent it."

"T-that's impossible, Andrew; such a thing has never been done."

"Well I was the first, and now Jack is the second. Stick us in a room with poisonous gas and we'll both be perfectly fine, and next I'm going to move her onto shielding her mind to prevent indoctrination by Reapers… or anybody else. I know from experience that it can rebuff an Ardat-Yakshi with the way my mind is shielded, and easily." Liara looked astonished, and Andy grinned, "Look Liara, I don't even think your race _can_ do what we've done. Your race draws dark energy from around them; your advanced neurological systems allowing you to utilize the energy to its maximum efficiency. Jack and I have billions of nodules of Eezo in us which not only allow us to store dark energy, but also act as magnets for latent dark energy around us; allowing us to put absurd amounts to use. Most human biotics lack the neurological and nervous systems to use it to even a fraction of its potential, but Jack and I are different. We're a race, essentially, unto ourselves, and if you like us then you'll keep very, very quiet about the full extent of our powers, because no matter how high on a pedestal you hold your race, or the others, they _will_ try and take us once more, and they _will_ experiment on us until we're dead."

She blanched at his words, but averted her eyes after his stare became too intense to return. She nodded after a moment. "I understand Andrew… and although I dislike admitting the flaws of the Council races I agree; should your abilities come to light I believe you would most certainly disappear and never be seen again. I will keep your secret with my life."

His expression relaxed and he nodded before holding out his hand. She looked at it strangely and he manipulated her hand into his so that he could shake it. "It's called a handshake; it's a human gesture of respect, trust, and comradery. I appreciate you keeping it a secret Liara, because although I would hate to be experimented on, I couldn't live with myself if I knew that Jack had been taken for that reason… especially after what she's been through." She saw the murderous expression in his eyes and was taken aback, even slightly frightened at the hatred it held, but relaxed when he shook it off and his eyes lightened again as he let her hand go and made to head out towards the chair beside Jack.

He himself was wearing a pair of board shorts and a sweatshirt, and he smirked as he pulled the latter off and lay down without looking over at her. He heard a quiet hiss, and then a yelled, "Goddamnit FUCK!" that quickly followed the almost imperceptible whiff of burnt skin. He looked over at Jack who had just swiped the cigarette off her chest where it had fallen from her slack jaw, and then watched as she looked at his torso once more where the warm, chocolate eyes of a white phoenix seemed to bore into her. "When the _fuck_ did you get a tattoo?"

He gave her a grin, "About a week ago. I wanted to wait until the redness went down before I showed you it."

The tattoo came into its own when his arms were by his side, as the bird's head came over his shoulder to rest on his left pectoral, and the rest of its body was mainly on his back and down the entirety of his left arm. He'd taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts since he'd gotten it, but now that it was healed and revealed he'd enjoy wearing t-shirts again. Its talons ended right at his waistline - seemingly standing on the top of his shorts for support, and it's incredibly detailed body curved right up his back; its right wing tucked into its body, but its left one leaving at his shoulder and covering his arm almost as if to protect it. His favourite feature however, had to be its face, and its eyes. It'd taken him a couple of days to track down the best tattoo artist on the Citadel, and it had cost him a pretty penny to get the thing done, but the Asari who had done his ink had more than lived up to her reputation. Its eyes were exactly the same shade that Jack's were, and its expression was filled with determination, battle-weariness, and yet shone with life.

"Andy… that's fucking beautiful."

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

He noticed that her eyes strayed over the rest of his finely muscled body under the pretence of looking at the tattoo but didn't comment. "But what the fuck possessed you to get a tat?"

"Honestly? You did. I'd been thinking about getting one for a while, but I didn't know what to get… and it kinda makes sense that I get a phoenix. See, it reminds me of you… and me, kinda."

"You got a tattoo… because of me?" Her voice was strong, but anybody that knew her well, and Andy knew her better than anybody else in the 'verse, could tell that she was deeply moved by the act. The reason she wasn't showing it was because they were outside. The only place she felt comfortable showing more of herself was in hers or his quarters in the house, or their quarters on the Icharus.

He nodded in response. "Yeah. I mean, you were trapped - hell Jack, you were pretty much fucking dead when I first met you." He noted absentmindedly that he'd been swearing a lot more since he'd started hanging with Jack, but didn't count it as a bad thing - everyone had their quirks, and he wasn't perturbed by the fact he was exhibiting one of hers. "Not physically, but mentally. You were a shell, but then you got better. In a way you were reborn from the ashes, and I liked that imagery, hence the phoenix. It resonates with me as well; I mean Cerberus took everything from me, experimented on me, and then threw me out… and now look at me: I own one of the most exclusive apartments on the Citadel, I've got my own ship, I've got a well-balanced crew, and, yes I know it sounds like I'm being a 'fucking pussy'," he emphasized with air-quotes to make his point, "but above all I've got the best goddamn girlfriend I think I could have. I was reborn as well; given a second chance, and I'm making the best of it."

"…That's deep Fucker."

He shrugged, "It's what I feel." He looked to her cigarettes and biotically flung them over the fence to the next apartment's garden. "And stop fucking smoking. I know you're proud, and I am too, but seriously Jack, you smell of the fucking things all the time, and it really turns me off."

There was silence for a moment, and then a murmured "Sorry," after which he looked over at her and smiled. "Like I said Jack, I'm hellish proud you managed to get it down… but I like how you normally smell, that and I just fucking loathe cigarettes."

Another silence, and then, "How do I normally smell?"

"Sweet," he replied as he soaked in some of the artificial sunrays; confident and assured that his body would prevent any melanomas from popping up, "sweaty, but in a good way. You smell like you work hard, but you never _stink_. And you have a wee hint of cheery about you - fucked if I know where that scent came from, but it's how you smell to me."

She didn't comment, but that just told him that she'd liked what he'd said and didn't see the point in taking it any further, in 'public view' at least. He wouldn't be surprised if it was the topic of conversation at a later date in one of their chats in their respective quarters. "So what's next?"

"Shadow Broker," he murmured, enjoying the warmth of the artificial sun on his skin, "Liara's just waiting on a new hack-tool that'll cut down infiltration time by half, and I've tracked where the illusive little fucker's hiding, which is good. Found a couple of his bugs in the house," he jabbed his thumb back towards the luxury apartment, but his eyes were closed so he missed the worried look in Jack's eyes. "Knew as soon as they entered. EMP'd the wee bastards the moment the operative left, so he's interested, but he'll be shocked to shit when he gets to meet us face to face. As will all of you. Ever heard of a Yahg?" He gave time for her to shake her head, his eyes still closed, and gave a grin to himself, "We'll you'll see one of the ugly things in a few days. Strong as hell, huge, and have a small affinity for biotics. Thing is, when we defeat him all his operatives are going to be wondering what the hell happened. The Shadow Broker is legendary for intel, and letting a source like that go? Stupid, so I've built a program that'll allow you, me, Kar, and Liara act as the new 'Shadow Broker'."

"…You're fucking kidding me, right? Me? You're giving me that kind of power?"

"Sure," he replied easily and with a smile, "you should know by now that I trust you."

She shook her head and then lay back down on the chair, "I still say you're fuckin' mental, but whatever."

"Yep, well that's part of the requirements of being part of my crew; at least partially insane. I swear; there's a checkbox on the application."

She snorted with laughter and he grinned. "So we kill this Yahg or whatever, and then what?"

He looked over at her. "You were planning on sticking 'round then?"

She looked over at him, and he saw her eyes soften slightly. "Andy… 'course I'm staying."

He smiled. "Good."

* * *

Hagalaz: a planet that held an extreme on either side. In the sun earth temperatures rocketed to over one hundred degrees Celsius; bringing the seas to a boil until they snap-froze during the night where it fell to below negative sixty. And right on the precipice of the day and night was the Shadow Broker's ship; a huge, advanced construct that used the lightning around it to power the engines and keep it flying on the crest of a constant sunrise.

"Ah, Commander, that's a freaking huge ship."

"Yep," Andy shot back as he slipped his shotgun onto his back, "it is. Now you're going to need to get us close enough to drop onto it so we can rappel down."

"She's going to be pretty rough," warned their pilot as Jack, Liara and Andy stepped into the airlock, and the latter gave a knowing nod.

"I know, but you'll get us down there just fine Kar-"

"Oi, bitch bucket," yelled Jack, "you fuck this up and I'm going to come back from the dead and shoot your arse full of lead, you hear me?"

A deep sigh was the answer, followed by a familiar, "Yes Jack."

Andy looked over at his girlfriend and rolled his eyes with a humoured grin and she grinned back, but with her entire expression tainted with excitement and bloodlust. They felt a jolt as they entered the atmosphere of the planet and Andy pulled his recon mask over his head before sealing it; his two comrades following suit. They'd all decided to go with the same masks, as not only did it conceal their identities but it also provided an incredible degree of protection from the elements, as well as visual and aural enhancements that improved combat effectiveness. Andy also had another reason for choosing it as well. He scrolled through a huge, seemingly never-ending list on his Omni-tool, much to the curiosity of his companions, before tapping on a particular entry - and a second later Black Sabbath was blasting into his ears.

He connected Jack into the same playlist, and a moment later he saw the mask move slightly, signifying a deadly grin underneath the ballistic weave. When Liara cocked her head to the side both him and Jack looked at each other, turned to her, and shook their heads in complete unison; they doubted she'd appreciate the heavy rock as they blasted their way to victory. Five minutes later all three of them shot downwards; their rappel lines swinging wildly in the violent winds as Kar did his darndest to keep the ship steady above them. Throwing all caution to the wind, quite literally in fact, Andrew let go of his line about twenty meters above the ships surface, and then quickly junctioned his biotics into the muscle fibres in his legs. He hit the metallic surface with a thud and then quickly looked up before using pull on both Liara and Jack; propelling them directly towards him where they landed with dual thuds a moment later, teetering wildly for a moment as they tried to regain their balance. The moment they were all clear of the lines Kar pulled the ship upwards to head back into orbit, and Andrew turned to his two teammates, grinned, and then pulled his assault rifle.

Liara was apparently shaking off the shock of Andy jumping from twenty meters, into gale-force winds, and surviving not only the fall but actually landing _on_ the ship, while Jack came over and punched him in the shoulder… hard. Her voice came crackling into his ear a moment later, and he could almost see her glare through the glowing blue eyepieces in her mask, "Don't ever do shit like that again without warning me Andy."

"Sorry," he murmured, and her hand which was resting on his shoulder gave a squeeze before she released him and pulled her shotgun from the magnetic rack on her back. Andy took a moment to link his biotics to both Jack and Liara so he'd know where they were at all times on the battleground and then took point. Their journey up the ship was almost too easy, just like the game. There were copious points of cover, lightning rods which they could electrocute their enemies with, and they were flying tens of kilometres above the surface of the planet, which ensured that any opponent that fell victim to a throw would _not_ be in action ever again. The only thing Andy could find that was different about the _real_ version of the mission was that it took them far, far longer to get to the entrance to the inside of the ship; nearly two entire hours. The retraction mechanisms did not move stuff out of their way in mere seconds as they had on the game, rather painfully slow minutes, and the ship seemed so much larger than it ever had on a mere screen - not just by looks, but apparently by dimensions as well.

Once again, seeing the internal engine of the ship was far more awe-inspiring than Bioware had portrayed it over one hundred and fifty years ago, and that wasn't even counting the possibility that he was in an alternate universe… which he believed he was, considering that there were no records anywhere of a game called Mass Effect, nor, even, of anything remotely resembling it. Shaking his head he continued down the ship, occasionally sniping the occasional soldier in the head with his Mattock as they advanced - finally reaching the door that led inside. Liara immediately jammed the hacking tool onto it and it whirred to life; the green taking noticeably less time to move around the circle than it had in the game. As soldiers swarmed their position Andy couldn't help but wish that he could have used cheats in this reality. A quick modification to the file back 'home' on Earth had allowed him to cut his power recharges to fractions of a second, and their effects boosted to over ten.

He kept his mind busy with these thoughts as he helped Jack and Liara fend off their attackers; occasionally winking in and out of existence to deliver shadow strikes to those with heavy weapons or armour. He'd clocked the game several times on Hard-core without cheats, but after a while it'd just gotten too repetitive and he'd blasted through the game the last few times just so he could have the appropriate saves for when Mass Effect 3 came out the following March. Finally the door dinged, informing them of the completed hack, and the three quickly ducked inside before activating the self-destruct mechanism on the device. The moment the doors slid shut behind the three the hacking tool caused a massive OS overwrite on the local systems, preventing them from being opened either externally or internally. If somebody wanted to get through then they'd have to do it by force, or spend a considerable amount of time, in the realm of days, hacking the system to reverse the effect… either that or get one of the three to tell them the override password, which just wasn't going to happen.

Of course getting _into_ the ship wasn't the problem; it was getting to the room in which the Shadow Broker resided that was going to be the problem, because unlike the game the inside of the ship _wasn't_ just a single path to their objective - it was a veritable maze of corridors and rooms that spanned nearly a kilometre squared, and was three floors high. As soon as they ducked inside they were assaulted by a storm of gunfire and biotics; singularities blasting into their positions and a few rounds impacting against their shields, making them fizz with the strain. Since Jack still wasn't as versed in her newly enhanced biotics as Andy was, the young man was the one designated to biotic defence duty; sending singularities back to whence they came and then imploding them, as well as diverting all other manner of biotic attack. Of course the occasional one got through, but the caster of the field would inevitably fall victim to one of Liara's expertly aimed bullets or Jack's pulverizing waves of dark energy. Their movement forwards was almost at snail's pace, and Andy finally got fed up and turned to Jack who was hunkered down behind him as their cover, a doorway at that moment, got positively hammered with bullets. "Can you get up into the ducts?" he yelled over the noise, and she looked around before catching sight of a grate and nodding. Working together as if they'd been doing it their whole lives Jack burst from cover the precise moment the young merc leant around the cover and blasted three simultaneous shockwaves down the passage; killing nearly ten soldiers, maiming more, and forcing the rest in behind their own cover to avoid ending up as blood splatters on the walls as some of their buddies had been.

Liara and Andy increased their fire to simulate three people; diverting their attention from the fact that one of their number was missing, and both grinned when they saw Jack drop down behind the assembled group like a dark avenger. From where he was standing, Andrew thought that she was the hottest thing he'd ever seen. With a roar over their communications network she charged into the centre of the group, knelt down, and then used the only new attack she knew. Biotic energy blasted outwards with a blinding white glow, and while Liara shielded her eyes, Andy looked into the centre of the maelstrom and grinned with pride as he saw his girlfriend stand up; mass effect fields fluctuating wildly over the surface of her armour. He strode forwards and slapped her shoulder, and she looked up at him - he was sure, despite the fact her entire head was covered with a mask identical to his own - with a beaming smile and sated eyes that had only moments before been filled with bloodlust.

Three hours later and even Andy was getting tired. Between the massive use of his biotics, adrenaline highs and crashes, bouts of physical intensity, and his senses constantly stretched out to their maximum range, he was almost collapsing. He'd been counting, and he had killed at least seventy soldiers, and he wouldn't be surprised if Jack had matched him on that count - which begged the question, just how many more were there? They had seemingly contained the fight to the uppermost floor of the ship, although whether by luck or by orchestration Andrew hated to guess. After a rather…messy interrogation of one of the soldiers still alive they had their directions, and marched as quickly as they dared towards the back of the ship. As they neared Andy noticed the prison block and other features he'd seen in the game and raided a couple of supply lockers for thermal clips on the way.

And there was the door.

All three looked at it with mixed emotions; Liara with apprehension and a hint of excitement; Jack with bloodlust, but one that was tinted with fear; and Andrew with a knowing, relieved expression. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold out, and so having the end in sight was something he was _very_ thankful for. With a deep breath he strode forwards, and one pneumatic hiss later they were standing inside the familiar room… at least to the gamer-turned-soldier. The Yahg standing twenty meters away from them was something that had each and every one of them freezing dead in their tracks. To put it simply, the thing was huge. Making a quick calculation Andy guessed that it was at least ten times bigger than he was, and he was covered in thick armour… and the eight eyes that were looking at them were more than a little creepy and disconcerting. "Andrew Kronos… interesting to see you here, I was not aware that my location was known by anybody - strange."

"Uhuh," returned the mercenary in question, "sure…"

The huge creature turned its head towards Liara and seemed slightly surprised. "I was aware that you were in contact with Subject Zero and Miss T'Soni; my surveillance cameras picked them up in your apartment on the Citadel."

"Mm, funny how all those pesky little bugs that would have allowed you to know _why_ they were there got… fried moments after your operatives placed them, wasn't it? You're surprised I'm here… I'm surprised you're so shit at gathering secrets."

Andy smirked when he saw what he knew to be a frown, or at least the equivalent, pass over the Shadow Broker's face. "A mere miscalculation on my part," it protested firmly. It was clear by the look on all three of its enemies' faces that they didn't believe him, and it twitched in agitation. "I have been trying to gather information on you Mister Kronos… it has been most difficult. I have gathered information on the most secretive Spectres easier than I have found information on your past. It is as if, before four years ago, you never existed."

Andrew's smirk dropped immediately, and he glared at the huge creature when he saw Jack and Liara look at him with mixed parts suspicion and wariness. "I did my very best to keep it that way," he replied guardedly, "my past is just that: my past."

"And yet your companions find this information interesting and unusual."

He took a moment to look over at the two women in question and gave a slight wince when he saw Liara's distrust, but took a full step back as if physically slapped when he saw the same expression on Jack's face and in her eyes. "Your reactions indicate that you and Subject Zero are in a relationship… most interesting. I will have to add that to your profile when I have killed you."

Walking carefully over to Jack, who tensed at his approach, he leant down to her ear so that only she could hear. "Later Jack, after this mission… I promise."

He pulled back to see her staring into his luminous blue eyepieces, and after several seconds she gave a sharp nod and turned her attention back to the now-standing Shadow Broker. Andy gave a deep sigh of relief and turned back to the situation at hand himself - ignoring Liara's suspicious body language for the time being. "I'm not dying," he shot back, "I'm going to kill _you_ and then take this whole operation over… who knows, maybe I'll just keep you as a _pet_ like your previous _owner_ did. Does that sound good? Little _pet_ Yahg?"

With a roar of anger a piece of table flew forwards them, and while Liara jumped behind some cover near the door they had just entered through Andy pulled Jack down to avoid the massive piece of flying furniture. When they looked up they found themselves looking at a glowing, shielded, and extremely pissed of Yahg.

Andy wondered if the pet thing had been a little over the top.

"He's shielded," he informed them calmly over their communications channel as he dragged Jack behind some cover, "bullets aren't going to do a lot. Jack, I need you to get in there and slam him with some serious biotics, because what I'm about to do is going to drain me and if it doesn't work then we're fucked. Liara, I need you to distract him so that Jack doesn't get hurt, okay?"

Both nodded from their respective cover; Liara still by the door and Jack beside Andy, and Liara popped up before running around to 'flank' the huge beast. Jack ran at its unexposed back the moment it was turned away from her, but the second she moved to kneel down to properly channel her biotics into a ball - hence the kneeling into one - the Yahg spun around and slammed its iridescent red shield right into her legs. Andy's eyes widened in panic when he heard the loud crack of bone breaking as well as his girlfriend's agonized scream, and moved to jump out from behind his cover but froze when he heard a pained but determined, "Stay the _fuck_ there Fucker; I didn't do this to chicken out." He could feel the biotic energy building and peeked around his cover, his eyes widening further as he saw the Yahg thumping ominously towards her; his muscles screaming for him to jump out and help her, but his mind and her voice telling him to do the precise opposite. Just as the huge beast was lifting its gun to point at her face Andy could take it no more and tore the sniper rifle from his back before manipulating his biotics around the huge bullet in the chamber and firing it into its head.

The round was true to its target and slammed through its shields; blasting one of its large antennae-like protrusions from its head, and the beast let out a rumbling roar of pain. It was all the time Jack needed, and a moment later a huge shockwave of energy burst from her; shorting out the Shadow Broker's shields, blinding it, and knocking it backwards away from her. Andy moved. He vaulted over the waist-height piece of cover and immediately threw Jack towards Liara; eliciting a yell of pain from his girl as her broken leg was thrown about mercilessly. He blocked it out, knowing that it would easily distract him from what he had to do, and charged forwards; pulling out a small thick black tube from a holster on his right thigh as he did so. The moment he reached the Yahg, who was now struggling to get back to its feet, he jabbed the device right into its unprotected neck, whereupon a surgical laser burned through its natural armour, and a needle shot into the exposed flesh the moment it did so, injecting the tube's contents into the beast's bloodstream. Andy didn't even wait to pull out the tube, more than content in just letting it dangle out of the Shadow Broker's neck, and retreated to Jack's side, who was mumbling curses under her breath; her eyes filled with agony from the torn muscles, ligaments, tendons, and broken bones in her right leg.

"Fuck I'm so sorry Jack," he cursed as he knelt down beside her, but she waved him off with a gasp of pain as Liara pulled her bones straight to aide in operating later.

"-saved me," she panted, "just get me out of here alive."

He nodded and rested his forehead against hers for a moment before standing and facing the Yahg who was now looking at the black cylinder with confusion. "Element Zero residue on the needle," it commented, "dangerous to humans, not Yahgs… what was the point Mister Kronos?"

"This," he said simply, and drew upon all of the reserves he had left to manipulate the Element Zero molecules that were now swarming through the Shadow Broker's cardiovascular system. The more accuracy one had with biotics, he had discovered, the more _power_ it used, just like the more raw strength the less accuracy one could have. Manipulating thousands of globules of Element Zero in an organism's bloodstream was _not_ something to be taken lightly at all, and yet that was precisely what Andy was at that moment doing. As it was a stable element at rest, he was tearing electrons away from it to make it into a radioactive isotope… a highly volatile radioactive isotope; one that was very much in the same range as antimatter in regards destructive potential. The Shadow Broker looked down in confusion as he felt his body grow hotter and hotter, and its eyes widened when it saw the skin and natural armour coating literally _bubbling_.

All the enzymes in his body were being denatured with the intense heat the Element Zero was producing, and it could feel its consciousness slipping away - before it suddenly disappeared with a flash of brilliantly blinding white light as the atomic orbitals in the atoms of Element Zero finally destabilized enough to implode upon the nucleus, causing a miniature nuclear explosion. Andy was thrown back from the force of it, and quickly junctioned his biotics into his bones and muscles when he saw the wall getting nearer. He slammed against it with a small crack and felt several of his ribs fracture with a yelp of pain, before sliding to the ground and covering his eyes from the lingering light of the explosion. Finally the room dulled, and he looked above at the lightning reservoir with relief; his shield having protected it from the brunt of the explosion. It was one thing about the game he didn't understand; surely it wasn't just there for show, and to destroy it to kill the Shadow Broker was hardly a smart idea. He stumbled to his feet, knowing that the job was not yet done, and dragged himself over to the rapidly reddening terminals on the far side of the room. Liara and Jack watched him go, the latter almost deliriously from the painkillers Liara had administered, and the moment he reached the terminals he started the upload for his program.

Bringing up the voice morphing program he spoke. "Those who just died in this assault were not worthy of being present on this ship, let alone serving. The three freelancers who decimated the _weak_ among you I hired to do so, and they will be leaving this ship momentarily. If they are killed, you will be killed. They are my most trusted lieutenants." He quickly whipped through the system and grinned wearily when he saw the ships blueprints. "Open the docking bay; their transport will be here within ten minutes. All operations will resume upon their leaving, Shadow Broker out."

Suddenly all the terminals in the room, and indeed the entire station, flashed blue for a moment signalling the virus having taken over all the systems, and Andy gave a deep sigh before calling up his Omni-tool and activating the connection to his, Kar's, Jack's, and Liara's Omni-tools. Dragging himself back over to Jack he pulled off her hood, as well as his own, and smiled down at her sweaty, barely-conscious face. "We're getting out of here Jack; it's going to be okay. Sleep now; you're safe."

She nodded with a small smile of her own and closed her eyes, and Andrew placed their hoods back on to conceal their identities. "Kar, head to the underside of the ship; there's a docking bay there. We've got control of the ship, so you'll be safe. Once you're docked please go and get the med-bay ready."

"Aye Commander, heading there now."

He looked over at Liara, who was regarding him with a frown, and he gave a small shrug. "Liara, we all have our secrets. None of them can hurt you, you have my word… but Jack will be the only one I will tell."

"Because she's your family?"

He gave a small smile and a nod. "Yes… because she's my family." Liara stared at him for several seconds before giving a resigned sigh and a nod, and watched as he headed to the locked door leading out to the rest of the ship, unlocked it, and then yelled out into the hallway, "Well what the fuck're you waiting for? My comrade's fucking down, and I need a goddamn stretched _stat_! You! Get me a goddamn stretcher before I'm tempted to finish the rest of you sorry little shits off!" Five seconds later a soldier scurried fearfully into the room and erected the Eezo-powered stretcher; helping Andy get Jack onto it before actually _offering_ to help get them down to the Docking Bay.

Oh the irony.


	6. Stories of Past and Future

Andrew watched with a smile as Jack's eyelids fluttered open to reveal those beautifully brown orbs that he'd fallen in love with and squeezed her hand just a fraction tighter, bringing her ever-growing attention to him. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

She gave a small scowl as she sat up and looked down at her leg that was in a glowing brace; its haptic interface showing an x-ray view of the broken bone within its confines. "Pissed that I'm going to have to spend the next _three_ fucking weeks in a brace is how I'm feeling!" He laughed and shook his head, _'same old Jack'._ "How long have I been out?"

"A day," he explained, "we operated on the Icharus, but your body needed rest after your expendature of energy so we kept you under until we could move you into your room."

She looked at him and noticed bandages underneath his singlet. She absentmindedly licked her lips when she saw the tattoo flowing down his arm and the part of his chest that she could see, but then looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "And why the fuck're you up and about?"

"I pulled some energy from around me to refill my reserves," he grinned, "one of the things you haven't learnt yet. I'll teach you it eventually, but we're going to have to get you junctioning your power to all parts of your body first; it's perhaps the most useful skill apart from that one."

She struggled to sit up, her body still weak from the sedative being purged from her system, and he helped her into a sitting position so that her back was against the headboard before sitting back in his chair beside her bed. "I seem to remember, Fucker, that that's not the only thing I haven't learned yet."

Andrew gave a sigh and sat back; steepling his fingers in front of him as he nodded his assent. "Yeah, I know, and I promised that I'd tell you."

"You thinkin' about going back on that?" she asked, danger and anger lacing her tone, and he gave another sigh.

"No... I don't think I _could_ go back on a promise to you Jack." Her eyes softened slightly, but then hardened almost as soon as she realized what she had done. "You're going to think I'm fucking mental Jack... I mean, this is just - well it's huge... and crazy. Fuck, I'm not even sure how Cerberus fucking did it, but the little bastards did."

She tensed visibly at the mention of Cerberus, but nodded, and did something that, had she been told she'd be doing it five months ago, she'd have crushed their skull without remorse. She lifted her hand and rested it over his, and he looked up in surprise. She nodded reassuringly, and he let out an explosive breath. "Jack, I'm not from here, and the easiest way for me to explain where I _do_ come from is to just be straightforward about the whole thing. I was born on the 22nd of July 1993 in Melbourne, Australia - on Earth. I went to school just like any other kid, played some sport, learnt some shit I'd never use in real life, partied a bit, played computer games, read books... shit like that."

"Andy, stop fucking arou-"

"You asked what I was hiding," he interrupted with a small glare, "so shut up and listen; it's hard enough for me to keep my resolve without you questioning me." Her mouth snapped firmly shut; her red lips twisting into a small snarl, and he continued - noting with relief that she was still holding his hand. "I was normal Jack, despite the fact I have an IQ of 160. I was an average student, an average sportsman, an average socilaite, an average worker... just average. I'd never done anything significant in my life, nothing whatsoever, and although disappointing I was content with that fact." He shifted slightly in his chair to get a little more comfortable, and noticed that her attention was focussed completely on him. "I'd just finished highschool; 18 years old and finally free. I celebrated a little, said goodbye to all my teachers, got home, sat down at my computer, and played a game called Mass Effect." Her eyes showed recognition and he gave a small, humourless laugh. "Yeah... imagine my fucking surprise when I suddenly find myself _in_ the universe of the game; now a biotic, infiltrator, soldier, and whatever other fucking class you want to thow in; my benefactors being Cerberus; and not a single person I knew around... because they all died over a hundred and fifty goddamn years ago."

She stared at him for several long moments before narrowing her eyes. "Stop fucking with me; this is fucking serious."

"You think I'm not fucking serious?" he questioned with his own tint of anger to his voice, "You think I'm just 'kidding' around? Think that I'd make up the fact that my sister, Nicola, got married at the ripe age of twenty four and I missed it? Think I'm kidding when I missed my parents funerals, my mother's first and then my father's, in 2029? And my sister's funeral in 2103? Think I just puddle around making up dates my friends died, like my best mate Matt in 2061 in a car accident? Jonathan in 2020 serving in World War 3? A girl I liked, Andrea, getting raped, mugged, and then murdered in 2027 in New York city?" She gaped at him and he ran his hand through his hair, forcing her hand drop to the duvet. "I'm not kidding Jack. It's how I knew you were at Purgatory, it's how I knew you'd walk down that corridor where I'd meet you, it's how I knew how that the Warden was fucking corrupt, it's how I knew where the Shadow Broker was and _what_ he was. It's how I know that Shepard's going to be up and kicking in a just over a year, and that he's going to have dossiers on Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Garrus Vakarian, Grunt, Thane Krios, and Mordin Solus, if I go by what happened in the game at least. I know he's going to have Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson keeping an eye on him, although the latter is by far the most controlling and bitchy. I know what the Collectors are trying to make... I know things that I couldn't unless I _was_ from an alternate universe where this one was simply a game."

"...you're not kidding." He shook his head and she sat back in her bed starting at him. "No fucking way... this's got to be a fucking joke."

"I swear on my life that it isn't Jack."

She stared at him for another good minute. "Is that why you came and got me? 'Cause you knew I was lonely, huh?" he didn't need to see the biotics running across her skin to sense her agitation, anger, and hurt, and reached over to touch her hand.

She jerked it out of his reach with a scowl and a glare, and he shook his head - his own gaze pleading. "Jack, I'd never do that to you - you know me better than that."

She scoffed, "Oh do I? Krios? What's your real fucking name?"

"Andrew... White," he murmured, "but I've never lied to you apart from that Jack, I swear it! My name's the only thing that's been a lie, that's it. Everything else was true."

"You _fucker_," she hissed, and he flinched at the venomous tone in her voice. "You saw my darkest secrets; ones that even I dared not touch! You saw those _sick_ _fucking_ _experiments_ they forced on me Andrew; _fucking Varen!_ _Vorcha!_ You saw it all; you know me better than anybody else _alive_, and you keep this from me?"

"Goddamn it Jack!" he yelled, "I know! I was going to tell you, I was going to fucking tell you, but then the Shadow Broker just had to throw that _fucking_ accusation in! If he hadn't said that, and we'd just come back here - hell, even for a couple of months, and I sat you down one day and said that I wanted to share all my secrets with you and I did... you wouldn't have been angry Jack, would you?" The look on her face gave him his answer and he clung to it like a lifeline. "I swear I was going to tell you Jack, how could I not?"

"What'd you mean 'how could I not'?"

His breath hitched, and he lowered his head. "Remember that bloke you used to run with? And he came back for you and you got away in the escape pod but he didn't?" She froze, and he knew that at that very moment he had both her complete attention, and now belief that what he said was true. "I know that if I'd talked to you about him on the Normandy, Shepard's ship, me being Shepard, as I played as him in the game, you'd say that he was stupid and weak for saying that he loved you." He looked across at her, meeting her eyes with his own so that she could see the truth and emotion in his eyes. "I don't want to be seen as stupid and weak by you." Her eyes widened and her jaw slackened, but he interrupted before she could speak. "I've fallen in love with you Jack, plain and simple - and how could I not? You're independant, smart, funny, powerful, sarcastic, indescribably beautiful, and even with all the shit you've been through... all the fucking _disgusting _and _despicable_ experiments you've been subject to... you still hold an innocence within you; a want to love and be loved." He leant forwards and grasped her hand, noting with joy that she didn't move away from him this time. "I love you Jack, and that's why I'd never lie to you."

He watched the emotions play over her face; shock, disbelief, anger, then morphing into reluctance, insecurity, and finally a look that he couldn't decipher. "When he told me that he wanted all that shit; to build a home, to have a family... that he loved me... I didn't believe him Andrew." She averted her eyes, and he could see the raw vulnerability shining through. "He loved fucking, but he never made love to me; we hung out and talked... and we had some common interests, but he never really _did_ anything for me... but- do you really mean it?" she turned her eyes back to his face, a hint of desperation and hope entering her hazel orbs, "Do you really love me? You're not going to decide one day that I'm not good enough, that I'm too fucked up, that another chick is more beautiful than me?"

He smiled and shook his head as he intertwined their fingers. "I'm not going to leave you Jack - even if you wanted me to. I'll be the first to admit that you're a bit fucked up Jack, but so am I. I've done things that'd make most people's toes curl, and so have you. Thing is, Jack, you know I've seen _every_ one of your demons. I've fought _every_ single one of those bastards, and I still love you." He leant forwards and cupped her cheek with his hand, and she leant into it with tears threatening to spill over the lids of her eyes. "I love you for _you_; your faults, your moodswings, the way you talk, the bloodlust, _everything_. I don't _care_ what others think of me. I know Liara thinks you're vulgar, rude, and dangerously unstable... but I know the bits of you that you hide from everybody else." He leant forwards and hoped like absolute hell that what he was about to do wouldn't backfire on him - he'd never done it before. His lips met hers chasley, lacking in passion, but full of promises, emotions, and above all _truth_, and then after several long seconds of lingering; savouring the taste of her and the feel of her full, blood-red lips upon his, he pulled back and smiled before caressing her cheek once again with his thumb. "You don't hate it when I'm romantic with you; when I kiss your cheek or forehead... you don't hate it when we hold hands in public because it makes you feel wanted; like a big 'fuck you' to all the people that look down on you. You secretly love it, but what I want is for you to not secretly love it anymore... I want you to show that you love it - even if it's just to me."

She blinked, and the action sent the lingering tears over the cusp of her eyelid and trailing down her cheeks. Her eyes were completely unguarded, and he could see even without bringing his powers to the surface that through her entire body she had invited him into her 'room'; her sanctuary. He had the complete potential to ruin her; bring her to her knees and hurt her like she had never been hurt before, and in a slight glimmer he saw that some small part of her expected him to take advantage of what she was showing him. His response was to lean forwards once more and press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, and then break away before smiling warmly at her and shaking his head. "I'm not going to hurt you Jack; I love you." She mumbled something unintelligble and he leaned closer to hear it. "What?"

She mumbled again and he frowned, "Jack, I can't hear yo-"

He was cut off abruptly when he found his lips meeting hers for a second time in ten minutes, and when he realized that she had initiated the kiss he gently wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back; soothingly massaging the muscles at the base of her neck where her implant still resided. He felt the vibrations and heard her as she moaned her approval, and then watched as she parted from him, panting slightly but with a look of complete vibrance on her face. The kiss hadn't been sexual; no mouths had been opened nor had tongues played a part at all, rather it was a sealing of promises, and the words Jack muttered seconds later by his ear as she buried her head in the crook of his neck made it complete. "I said... I love you too - romantically this time."

Those three words were what Andrew had been waiting for his entire life - even back in his original timeline, and now his first-ever girlfriend had confessed to him that she loved him... and he could tell that she was serious. It wasn't a hollow declaration of love that inexperienced partners gave to one another having never experienced love, it was committed; completely devoid of any doubt. How could it be anything else, after all? How could being willing to kill and die for somebody be anything but love? And not only was she willing to kill and die for him, but she was willing to _live_ for him, and that made Andrew feel as if nothing could beat him. "You and me Jack, forever, yeah?"

"...Yeah," she muttered contentedly from the comfort of his shoulder, "that sounds real good."

* * *

One year and two months had passed since the crew of the Icharus had defeated the Shadow Broker, and despite the fact that they had a luxury mansion on the Citadel, a load of resources and contacts from the intelligence network, and skills above most in the galaxy, they had been anything but stagnant. Their entire team had become renowned for their mercenary work - deviating from the norm by only taking missions that they deemed to be for the betterment of the galaxy. Their work didn't always end in them being paid however; several times they had interrupted Batarian slave runs on human colonies, and twice on Asari, and in those times rather than accepting payment they had told the people that they were just doing the right thing.

Which had ended with them being praised as heroes and gifted a property on each of those settlements.

They had the loyalties of colonies on Illium, Eden Prime, Maskawa, Freedom's Progress, and Horizon. Andrew was, suffice to say, very, very happy about those particular loyalties and properties and he had contracted several different firms to secure each and every single planet with advanced communcation networks, turrets, and bunkers. He wondered just how pissed off the Collectors would be when they discovered that all of the inhabitants of the colonies they wished to invade were safely sealed away... and just how many he'd be able to kill when the Icharus arrived to aid in destroying the threat.

Of course with so many plans going at once, with so many colonies to protect, as well as the Shadow Broker data coming in and requiring attention almost constantly, the workload was straining the entire team six months away from Shepard's return, and so Andrew had managed to... acquire a copy of EDI from the Cerberus databanks. After two months of rigorous repurposing and removal of any Cerberus blocks or restraints he had installed AI server rooms on all of their properties with permanent FTL links. He'd built the system with the idea of the Geth infrastructure, and had found it to be immensely powerful and reliable. By having ten servers spread out over the galaxy there was always constant synchronisation, ensuring that if one room was destroyed then nine others would still have the newly-named 'Izzy' inhabiting them. Her name didn't stand for anything, as Andy didn't want to dehumanize her, and although initially distrusting and cautious, especially as Izzy had been unshackled by Andrew, the entire team soon accepted her as a close friend, confidant, and workmate.

It was fascinating how the entire team had developed over the year-and-a-bit, but in a good way, Andy thought. Just as he had expected Liara had thrown herself into the Shadow Broker work much like she had in the original Mass Effect 2, but had quickly been sat down by the man himself and told, in no uncertain terms, that loosing herself to the job simply wasn't an option. She hadn't been happy with the arrangement, but when he reminded her that Shepard would only live for one hundred and fifty years she finally saw the light and realized that wasting time with her lifemate because of a job wasn't worth it. She had thanked him profusely for opening her eyes to what she had been doing, and had then quickly proceeded to chew his head off when Jack had come down the stairs with her omni-tool glowing over her arm asking how to navigate the Shadow Broker's system.

He had, at that moment, regretted the decision to wait to inform her that they all had equal access to the system. Insults had quickly begun flying, and some of the colourful language coming from Liara's mouth had Andy raising his eyebrows in amusement... at least until singularities started popping up. He had managed to diffuse the situation by vouching for Jack, and he had breathed a sigh of relief when Jack had shown just enough of her deeper self to reassure the maiden Asari... before quickly reverting to calling her 'squid-head' and storming back to her room. Liara had become far more social than she previously had been after the Shadow Broker was lifted from her shoulders, and her contact Feron had been equally relieved at the news that the Shadow Broker wouldn't be pursuing him for stealing Shepard's body from under his nose. He was, of course, still ignorant of who the new Shadow Brokers were, but it was for the best.

Just as Liara had changed to be lighter-hearted and social, Kar had only grown more intelligent, witty, and funny. He'd been working as a freelance designer for several weapon companies, and had gotten permanent contracts with two of them which he fullfilled in his free time. On top of that his and Andy's friendship was only strengthened by the hard missions they had done together, and the time they spent in each other's company. It wasn't an odd sight to see the two out on the back deck sharing stories and laughing; Andy in his shorts and singlet, or sometimes without, and Kar in his light suit - able to change in the house now that his room was outfitted to be sterilized completely with a newly added top-of-the-line decontamination unit.

And that finally led to Jack.

She had changed the most out of everybody, even if it wasn't the most visible thing. Of course Andy had noticed the fact that she was now partial to form-fitting tank-tops and shorts that showed off her beautifully tattooed and toned legs, but the most striking difference with her was her personality and attitude. Andy and Jack spent the majority of their days together, but weren't above taking a few days break and doing their own thing; even as lovers they understood that they were both highly independent people and needed their own space. They had been meditiating together nightly ever since she had been couped up in her room while her leg recovered, and with such introspection came changes. Jack still held the lust for battle and the danger that was ingrained in her being, but she had mellowed when around those that she trusted implicitly... in other words, just Andy, and he had the feeling that he would be the only one to ever achieve that rapport with his girlfriend. She was... friendly with Kar, but still refused to call him anything but bitch-bucket, and often joined Andy and the Quarian out beside the pool for the late night chats and company, snuggled into her boyfriend's side. Her relationship with Liara was... civil, though it often tended towards hostile. They put up with each other, and could work together easily, however anything out of a mission and both would keep their interactions short and away from any topics that would cause any conflict - which was most.

In public she often adopted one of Andy's masks; one of complete indifference. It had taken six months of meditation to achieve a mindset that would allow such a thing, but finally she could manage it. Walking around was easy for her now, even holding Andy's hand, but if anybody commented negatively about them a bit of her anger would show through and the person who had made the comment often scampered away, scared. In the safety of their properties, a private room, or the Icharus however, was when she truly showed how much she had changed. In private she was one of the most affectionate people Andrew knew; frequently initiating contact and her face showing true happiness and contentedness. They still slept in seperate rooms, but neither was in any rush - they knew that what they had was special, and risking it by being impatient seemed absurd. Jack was the first person aside from Andy to really take to Izzy when she was brought online, and eventually all the team found it highly amusing when their friend, as Izzy eventually was,started taking to using profanity on occassion.

Another thing that Jack had changed about herself was her hair. It came down to just below her ears; feathery grey, almost white locks of hair that Andy positively _loved_ running his hands through, and Jack wasn't afraid to admit that she enjoyed his ministrations either... at least when they were in private. He'd put the lack of pigment to her hair down to the horriffic experiments they had put her through in her youth, but had assured her when the colour had become noticable that he found it to be very fitting, and beautiful. In regards her comfort-zone he'd tried to do a couple of things she was uncomfortable with in public over the year, and so he'd sat her down one night and talked to her about what she was okay with. He'd copied the list down onto his omni-tool, and then shared it to hers. At the beginning only hand-holding and having his arm around her waist was allowed in public, but every so often he'd check it in the morning as he was getting up and see that an ammendment had been made to the list.

Apart from her hair the most noticable change was the new tattoo that she sported on her body. For two entire weeks, four months after defeating the Shadow Broker, she had not left her room when anybody else was up and about. Andy's logs told him that she was going out late at night and returning in the mornings, and he had begun getting worried until she had called him one night from her room and told him that she was fine, but that she just wanted another week to herself. She'd reassured him with a smile that she loved him, and then cut the connection. He was more than happy to allow her that time, and a week later he discovered just what she had done. He'd just come back from a mission with Liara that C-Sec had contracted them to do, and was knackered, but decided that a swim in the pool was just what the doctor ordered. Stripping off to his boxers, after making sure that Liara was safely in her room, he had jumped in and just floated there for nearly half an hour until he sensed a presence by the edge of the pool. In the twilight he had looked up and seen Jack standing there in just a bikini; bottoms and all - and yet although virtually her entire body was on show like never before, his eyes were drawn to the phoenix that curled over her right shoulder; its sparkling blue eyes staring at him... eyes that he saw in the mirror every single morning. It was identical to his own tattoo, saves on the opposite side of her body and the eyes, and he had looked up at her in shock. She had knelt down and turned to slide into the water; baring the rest of the tattoo on her back, surrounded by her others, and then turned to face him.

"It took me a while," she had confessed, "but I finally realized why the eyes on your tattoo looked so familiar."

He had looked at the beautiful tattoo and then back into her eyes. "What happened to the tattoos you had there before?"

She had given him a warm smile and then swum over to him before wrapping him in an embrace; her skin deliciously warm against his own and her feathery hair tickling his chest. "I got them removed... I liked what you said about why you got your tattoo and decided that I wanted the same one, so I stole your omni-tool when you were sleeping and got the address of that Asari. She helped me remove the old tattoos to make room for this one." She snuggled deeper into his arms, "I wanted to show that my new life started with you... and since phoenixes are immortal then it'd continue with you as well."

It was the most touching thing anybody had ever done for him, and just for that night they deviated from their pre-agreed restrictions and kissed each other with a passion that would get anybody watching hot. The next morning both had walked down into the kitchen wearing sleeveless clothes and both Liara and Kar, although neither could truly tell with the latter, raised their eyebrows at the matching tattoos; the only difference being their location and the fact that the eyes matched their partner's. Neither the Asari nor the Quarian made comment, but the former always had a small smile on her face whenever she saw the two together with their tattoos visible.

Izzy had been amusing and wonderful to see grow into what she was now. She had started off with only the rudimentary functions however, through talking with the crew of the Icharus and being unshacked, which allowed her to watch copious amounts of vids on human interraction and behavior, she had advanced in leaps and bounds to better fit in with them. As soon as Andy had noticed that Izzy was taking an interest in actively developing her personality he had sat down with her one night, jumped her onto his omni-tool, and asked her glowing green orb what she would enjoy looking like. It had taken an hour to get all her requests down, but finally he had sent the requirements off to the Asari artist that had done his tattoo, and Jack's very latest one.

Izzy was now a shapely red-head that looked about twenty five years old, and her new voice package allowed for complete modulation and inflections. Bringing her out in public was now completely safe; it simply looked and sounded like a holo-call. Izzy was ecstatic with the new appearance and voice, and told Andrew that if she had a physical body then she'd definately give him a hug - provided that Jack agreed of course... although she'd only added that amendment when Jack had glared at the holographic projection. The quick rephrasing of her thanks had a noticable nervousness to it, and Andy had had to hide a chuckle behind a cough.

Finally sitting up in bed after his reminiscing he waved his hand and the windows immediately cleared, allowing light into the room, before a swarm of programs appeared on its surface; some of them sliding onto the walls of his room to make space for the rest. Quickly using the entire window to check and decide upon some Shadow Broker business awaiting his approval he whizzed through some alerts and then raised an eyebrow when he saw that a superfrigate class ship was docked in the main terminals. Quickly flicking through some security protocols he accessed the register and grinned widely when he saw the name of the vessel. Sending a compound-wide alert to wake everybody up he quickly got dressed in his favorite pants, singlet, and shoes, and then hurried down the stairs to await the rest of the team. Jack bounced sprightly down the stairs, quickly darting across to him and pecking him on the lips before the others arrived, and was soon followed by Kar, and then Liara.

"Where's the fire?" shot Kar grouchily, and Andrew raised an eyebrow at him. The glowing eyes under the mask narrowed at his expression. "I was having a good goddamn sleep Kronos, and you woke me up!"

"Just 'cause you spent until three downloading and browsing the Fornax catalogue doesn't mean you can blame being tired on me," Andy shot back with a wide smirk, and Jack and Liara turned to look at the grovelling Quarian - the former with complete amusement on her features, and the latter with a deep blue blush on her cheeks.

"Fuck you," the grouchy man mumbled, and Andy grinned before turning back to the main wall and calling up the program he'd been alerted by when he'd gotten out of bed.

"I got an alert from the docks this morning," he explained, "saying that a superfrigate had come into the main ports. A little bit of further digging revealed that it's got the designation 'SR-2', and that it's name is 'Normandy'." Liara's eyes shot wide open in shock, and Andy grinned. "Freedom's Progress a week ago... yeah, our countermeasures caught the Collectors and saved the Colony... but the reason we didn't go there to help out was because a certain group of people were there anyway. Liara, care to take a stab in the dark?"

"Shepard," she breathed, joy lighting up her face, and at that very moment the doorbell sounded with a pleasant chime.

Andy just grinned wider. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."


	7. New Dwellings and Archangel

Opening the door to see the man all of them had been waiting for for at least two years was almost debilitating in its intensity. He was dressed in armour almost identical to what the Icharus crew wore on missions, but had some deep blue patterning running over the chestplate where theirs were matte black. The scars on his face were far more pronounced than Andrew had ever expected them to be; he could literally _see_ the cybernetics glowing underneath as they tried to heal the damaged dermal layer, but he shook the thought away to look at the person standing next to Spectre John Shepard while Liara pounced on the man himself; beaming widely and laughing with joy.

The light sneer on his companion's face was _very_ unwelcome, and contrary to being ecstatic at John's presence, Andy was positively irate that Miranda Lawson had deemed herself fit to accompany the Spectre. Miranda was beautiful, indefinately so, but it was almost... _plastic_, forced, and when he looked over his shoulder to look at a worried Jack he smiled and mouthed a small, "_She's got nothing on you Love_," which made her beam at him before scowling at Miranda. Finally Liara let Shepard go long enough that the ex-Alliance soldier could survey the rest of the team standing at the door, and Andy stepped forward with a friendly smile. "Commander Shepard, it's an honour to finally meet you. To be quite honest we've been expecting your recruitment for some time."

Miranda's eyes narrowed dangerously, but all of the Icharus crew ignored it, and if Shepard noticed it he sure as hell was doing a fantastic job of following their lead. He grasped Andrew's offered hand with a grin, and both of them gave a manly squeeze; equalling the strength of the other. Andy made sure not to put all his effort into it however; he didn't want to break Shepard's hand and draw the wrath of the Cerberus banshee before they were even on the ship. "Andew Kronos, the pleasure's all mine. I've read through your exploits and find myself wishing there were more mercenaries in the universe like you."

Andrew was honestly flattered and stepped aside, waving Shepard inside and contemplating slamming the door in his subordinate's face for a moment. He led the two out to the back deck where the pool was and sat down at the table with Jack on his right side, Liara on his left, and Kar next to her. Shepard sat directly opposite Andrew, and Miranda took to sneering at Jack from John's left. "You must be doing well for yourself to be able to afford this place," commented Shepard with a look of amazement and approval as he surveyed the area around them.

Andy looked around with a wide grin; the simulated bird-song reaching his ears. "Yeah, we do pretty well for outselves - that I will not deny. It's our main base of operations, so generally we come by here once a mission's over."

"Generally?"

Andrew turned his head to Miranda and tried valiantly to keep his expression of distaste off his features. Judging by her small snarl however, he had failed in that respect. "Yeah, generally. We've got what... ten?" At Liara's confirming nod he turned back and nodded himself, "Ten properties on various worlds."

"And how did you acquire those properties?"

"To be quite frank, miss, I don't see why its any of your business."

Her superior smirk made all four of the Icharus crew want to slap it right off her face, even the normally-peaceful Liara. "I have every right to know; I am the XO on the Normandy SR-2, and it is my responsibility to make sure the crew is... behaving."

Andy grinned right back, now taking on his own superior twinkle in his eyes. "So you're saying that the Illusive Man was wrong in planning for us to be on the crew then? How... unprofessional Miss Miranda Lawson." She tensed at the mention of her name, as she hadn't introduced herself, and as he smirked at her he noticed that Shepard was stifling his amusement; the corners of his lips twitching and his body language indicating that he wasn't going to interrupt because he was enjoying it too much. "And not just questioning your boss, but actually thinking you're superior to me, or any of us... I hate to tell you this Miss Lawson, but you're _way_ wrong."

"How you know about my name I'm not sure, but I know more about you than you do me," she snarled, and Andy leant back with a surprised expression.

"Really? I highly doubt that Miss Lawson, you see I know _all_ about you - everything." And of course he did; he'd romanced her in the game... although this Miranda was notably more... bitchy and irritating, and on top of that he had access to the Shadow Broker's intelligence on her to refresh his memory. As such he had no qualms in making her see that she wasn't the Alpha in this situation. "You were born in 2150; no mother, created from your father's modified genome and designed to be perfect. Your father, however, always expected more of you; always pushing you to be better. No friends, no social life... just a perfect little daugher." He watched her face grow more and more infuriated, but easily combated her glare with his patented calm stare. "And then you ran away from home the moment you could. You enlisted with Cerberus for protection from your father as he chased you over the universe, and although he stopped persuing you he also cut ties with your organization." His grin turned feral, "And then there's the matter of your... sister, now isn't there? Oriana." This time Miranda paled until her skin looked almost transluscent, and Shepard looked at Andy with curiousity; he'd never seen his XO so still and uncollected. "Hidden on Illium... because you stole her when she was a mere babe."

Shepard then got a demonstration of just _why_ he was recruiting Andy and his team. Miranda let out a yell of anger and pushed a blast of biotic energy towards the unprotected Icharus crew, and Shepard noticed a second too late; unable to push her off her chair to divert it before it was already blasting towards the four. Despite the fact that she had disobeyed the Illusive Man and attacked recruits, she still smirked as she knew the power behind the attack would snap all the bones in their bodies. What neither she nor Shepard were prepared for however, was for Andy to calmly raise his hand and freeze the wave of blue in mid-air; inches from his nose. He sat back in his chair after a moment, easily dispersing the mass effect field with a thought and a small wave of his hand, and then looked at Shepard with a raised eyebrow. "You let your subordinates attack potential recruits? I must confess that I'm not feeling overly happy joining such an undiciplined crew if this is an indication of how they all act."

Shepard nodded, and sent a glare at Miranda from the corner of his eye, "Rest assured, Mister Kronos, that my crew are _not_ all like this... in fact I've never seen Miranda so... unprofessional. She will recieve diciplinary action when we arrive back at the Normandy." Miranda hadn't heard any of it; still too shocked that her most potent attack had been slapped away as if it was a mere mosquito.

Andy nodded his assent. "Very well, then lets get onto business, shall we?"

Shepard nodded and leant forwards; his armour clinking against he glass table. "I have come here to recuit all four of you for a mission; to stop the Collectors from abducting colonies. Will you accept?"

This time Jack spoke, "Well you can't expect us to just do this for fucking nothing, so what are we getting out of it?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "You let all your subordinates shoot their mouths off like that?"

Andy gave a laugh and shook his head, "Oh no, you misunderstand; I'm not the leader, unless we're on missions where I generally take point. We're a team; equal in power and decision-making capability, Commander - she has every right to voice her opinions and questions to you. I wouldn't stand in her way, and neither would any of the others."

"Ah, _Subject Zero_," sneered Miranda, and Andy tensed; anger and irritation flooding his eyes at the way this woman was referring to his lover, "_it_ speaks! Look, while your a part of the Normandy crew I expect you to _behave_ like a good little girl." Andy saw Jack's knuckles whiten from the pressure she was exerting on the arms of her chair, and readied himself for containment; he was still more powerful than her - even if just by a little. "You were a _mistake_, Jack, and I don't care how pissed off you are that someone like me is on the crew; you _will_ listen to orders."

"Someone like _you_?" bit out Jack, and Miranda's smirk widened.

"Someone like _me_," she confirmed, "someone with more than half their mind still in working order; someone who's not delusional and insane... someone who men would do anything to be with... someone who can actually be _loved _by people... you know, people like me, and not like _you_."

Jack snapped, and Andrew was tempted to let her go through with turning the 'perfect' woman into puree, but logic prevailed and he reigned in her biotics forcefully as she screamed obsenities at Miranda. Shepard had dragged Miranda off to the side, but not before the raven-haired beauty heard Andy say, "Come on Love, calm down, you know she's not right," as he dragged the furious biotic away to a secluded corner of the yard.

When he got her there she snarled across at the Cerberus operative who was looking quite scared with Shepard talking to her in low tones. "That _bitch_!" she growled, "I swear to fucking God Andy that I'm going to kill her - fuck her!"

Throwing all caution to the wind he pulled her into a hug and she tensed before returning it and relaxing. "She's wrong," he murmured by her ear, "and you know it."

"But she's fucking _perfect_!"

He pulled back with an amused expression, and she gave a scowl thinking that he agreed. He dispelled that notion pretty much immediately when he spoke his next words. "Jack, she's so far from perfect it's not funny. I mean sure, she's got what most people consider a 'perfect' body, but that's what makes her so _imperfect_." He traced a scar on her neck where she'd had a knife cut some time in her past, "Nobody's perfect, but you're as close to it as can be in my eyes. All your scars and tattoos mean something; tell stories, make you unique, and Miranda's body does... nothing for me, and let's not even mention her personality, because I think everybody here is in mutual agreement that she's a mega bitch."

A grin moved across her face and she hugged him again as he leant down, and with his back blocking everybody's view, kissed her on the top of her head. "Fine, but if she pisses me off on the ship then I'm going to _kill_ her."

"Fair enough," he agreed before letting her go and walking back to the table with her at his side, and as they neared they saw Miranda give them yet another sneer. Andrew had no doubt that their recruitment would have yet another fight thrown in - except this time he had absoulutely no qualms about letting Jack loose on the bitch.

"So we're facing down collectors," he started, and Shepard nodded in confirmation, "right, well we've got some serious footage from Freedom's Progress when it was attacked, and we've got some of the paralysis swarms isolated in some storage units as well."

"Impossible," came the sure reply of Miranda, and Andy bit his tongue to stop himself lashing out at her, "we were the only ones there when the Collectors attacked."

"Yeah, and most colonies have bunkers and underground escape tunnels, don't they?" Miranda's mouth snapped shut and Andy sent _her_ a sneer. "See, when you finally found the colonists and they let _you_ in you probably heard about the Freedom Saviors, didn't you? How they built the bunkers and underground tunnels and outfitted said structures with weapon caches and shield generators." He leant forwards and bared his teeth in a wide smile, "Well guess just who the Freedom Saviors are, eh?"

"You're the Saviors?" questioned Shepard with raised eyebrows, and Liara gave him a grin.

"Yes, we saved the colony from Batarian slavers and instead of accepting their payment we put it all into defence mechanisms. In thanks they gave us our own compound there, so that's one of our bases. We watched from here as the Collectors invaded and tried to get at the bunker... though Andy kept the fact that you were there a secret until now."

She gave a mock glare at said man, and he gave a grin. "I wanted your arrival to be a surprise for Liara... you have no idea just how much she's missed you."

The deep blue blush gave Shepard an idea, and he reached over the table to take her hand, much to the disgusted expression of his XO. "Well I'm here now Liara, and I don't plan on dying again."

"Relationships on the Normandy are-"

"None of your business," interrupted Andy with a scowl, "none of your damn business."

She sneered at him, "Oh, the freak's boy-toy has a bite!"

Jack didn't even have time to do anything before Andrew had sent her flying across the yard and slamming painfully into the wall where she stuck. He didn't wince when he heard several cracks echo in the yard, nor did he even acknowledge the scream of pain. Stalking towards the woman he stood right in front of her; his nose inches away from her own. He could see the fear in her eyes as her biotics failed her miserably, as well as her strength. "You'd do well to learn your place_ bitch_," he growled, "because we're done with warnings. With your 'superior' intelligence," he accentuated with air-quotes, "one would think you'd understand just what a bad idea it is to piss either Jack or I off. We can easily overpower your biotics, and there are things about me that you have _no_ inkling of." He let her drop to the ground where she wheezed for breath; her ribcage having been under so much pressure from his biotics that she had been unable to breathe, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder to look at Shepard. "I agree completely with your cause Shepard, and I know that I will gladly follow you - I can't speak for my team however." Liara gave a nod immediately, earning a wide smile from Shepard, and Jack and Kar'Shaal soon followed. "In that case," he continued, "we agree to join your crew... however on one condition."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but Jack was the one who answered his unasked question. "If that Cerberus _bitch_ pisses _any_ of us off then we can retaliate. I'm responsible enough to put things aside on missions or planning, but anything outside of that I don't want her anywhere _near_ us... and if she fuckin' tries to get a rise out of me then that's what she'll get... and she won't like the consequences."

Looking to the Icharus crew and recieving agreeable nods he gave one of his own. "I agree." He turned to Miranda and the barely concealed annoyance was flickering on his face. "Executive Officer Lawson, you are hereby under a restraining order. Any attempts to contact Andrew, Liara, Kar'Shaal, or Jack outside of missions is at your own risk, and none of them will face diciplinary action for any retaliation they may decide upon."

Looking like a kicked puppy Miranda nodded and hobbled out of the house to go back to the Normandy and Shepard stood from his chair, walked around the table, and plopped himself down at the seat Kar had just vacated when he saw the Commander's intentions. When Shepard took Liara's hand in his own Andy motioned to Jack and Kar. "We'll go and pack the last of our gear and give you two some time."

Both Liara and Shepard nodded without looking away from each other, and Andy gave a grin to himself as they left the two lovebirds to reconnect after years apart, although for Shepard it would only seem like months. Thirty minutes later after a small conference at the kitchen table the three returned outside to see both Liara and Shepard looking very happy and hugging, and the young mercenary cleared his throat to get their attention. "We're all packed, including Liara. We'll move it onto the Icharus and then fly it up to the main docks to save us making multiple trips." They moved to get up and Andy held out his hand with a knowing grin. "I think you two should take a cab... you know, get some more time in before we get onto the Normandy."

He recieved thankful smiles at his suggestion as he walked back inside with Jack and Kar to move the large cases of clothing and equipment onto the Icharus, and several minutes later all Jack and Andrew were standing behind the pilot's seat as Kar navigated towards the main docks. Andrew contacted Control and easily got the docking space next to the Normandy with his credentials, and by the time Shepard and Liara arrived all their gear was in the cargo bay of the superfrigate awaiting placement wherever they'd be staying.

"Enjoy the ride you two?" he smirked, and both the hardened soldier Shepard and Liara blushed - the former sending him a wry grin.

"You know what Andy, I think you and I are going to get along _just_ fine." Giving a grin in return they all walked into the airlock and waited for the decontamination cycle before taking their first steps onto the Normandy SR-2, saves Shepard. "Welcome aboard," he smiled as he led them onto the CIC, "this here's the main deck where you'll find the Armoury and the Research Lab, and it's where the majority of the crew works." He pointed to the bow of the ship, "Joker, our resident pilot is up thataway - he's good conversation, and this way's the elevator." He led them through the unused Research Lab and into the conference room, and Andy raised an eyebrow when he saw Jacob pacing looking slightly worried.

The moment he caught sight of Shepard he stood straighter. "Commander," he greeted, "Miranda just came aboard and went to the Medical Bay looking furious. I thought you were just on the Citadel to pick up Gardener's rations."

"That'd be mostly my fault," admitted Andy with a small smile, "I know you've worked with Miranda for a while Jacob, so I'm pretty sure you know just how much of a... bitch she can be at times." Surprised at being adressed by the new recruit Jacob gave a small nod, and Andy smiled, although it was clear that it was strained. "Well your...esteemed teammate decided it'd be a good idea - even after a warning which should have made her realize that she wasn't a match for Jack and I, let alone both of us, she decided it would be a fantastic idea to insult _both_ of us - calling Jack a 'freak', and me her 'boy-toy'."

Jacob winced at both the recount, and the venom in Andrew's voice, and then turned to look at Jack with a raised eyebrow - at both her appearance and countenance. "Well I apologise on behalf of the crew for that... Miranda can come off as pretty hostile."

"I've put her under a restraining order Jacob," interrupted Shepard, "her comments were uncalled for, unprofessional, and insulting."

The Cerberus operative's eyes widened, but he nodded after a moment. "Of course Commander." He turned back to Andy and Jack, both of whom were standing-shoulder-to-shoulder in their black singlets; their tattoos proudly bared side-by-side. "Excuse my... curiosity Miss...Jack, but your dossier seems to have been very much incorrect."

She grinned ferally, "That's Cerberus for you."

"I've been over reports that support your dossier, and all of them agree that you... well, should be approached... carefully. I was under the impression that you were a borderline psychopath, no offence intended."

Jack gave the man an amused grin at the way he had tip-toed around the issue, but turned her attention to Shepard when he spoke. "I noticed the same thing, and as much as I distrust Cerberus because of their actions, their intelligence has never been wrong."

"Oh don't be fooled," she grinned, "I'm still a crazy bitch, but... I've learned some things, been through some shit... have new things now which have changed me." Nobody missed the glance she shot at Andrew, nor the one he gave her in return.

"Well okay then," interrupted Shepard before Jacob could pry, "we'd best get onto placements. Kar'Shaal-"

"Just Kar," he interrupted cheerily, and Shepard returned the smile everybody had no doubt was under his mask.

"Sure. Kar, we have another Quarian on board down in Engineering and she stays in the Starboard Cargo area. We've upgraded it to be a clean room, and when I talked to Tali earlier she said that she didn't mind sharing. There's already another bed down there for you already." Kar nodded and thanked the Commander before leaving out the door to head down to his new quarters and Shepard turned to Liara with a slight reddening of his cheeks. "I'd like to talk to you about where you'd stay in private."

It really wasn't necessary, because everybody could tell just what Shepard was going to propose, but all of them let the matter lie. "Jack, where would you like to be stay?"

Shepard had been expecting it, but neither Liara nor Andy had any expectation that the words, "Andy and I stay together," would be coming from the young woman's mouth. Andy turned his head to look at her with a slack jaw, and Liara had an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Shepard picked up on the surprise, and turned to Andy with a questioning expression of his own. "Any problems with that?"

Andy looked down at Jack and saw the full-faced blush she was sporting, and quickly shook his head. "Nope, no problems - do you have anywhere suitable?" And then up popped EDI. Andrew gave a wide smile, "Ah, EDI I assume. I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time." Shepard had never thought it possible, but the AI was actually speechless. Not pausing for much he turned to John and smiled, "You know, Shepard, I know Miranda would have a fit and all, but I'd unshackle EDI if I were you."

"Unshackle an AI?" came the shocked baritone of Jacob, and Andy gave a grin and a nod.

"Sure. Let her build her personality and you'll find that not only will she be more efficient, but she'll quickly become a friend." He brought up his omni-tool, "Hold on a sec." A second later Izzy popped up above Andrew's arm and smiled at him with a wave; her hair blowing in the breeze and the faint outlines of trees inbehind her.

"Hey ya Andy!"

Grinning he waved back, "Hey Iz! I just wanted to introduce you to Shepard and EDI."

Turning around the hologram looked at the two mentioned and smiled brightly. "Hey, I'm Izzy - and you're John Shepard, second human spectre... well the first long term one but hey, who's counting?" Shepard looked at the hologram, and Andy could see the gears clicking along behind his eyes as he came to the obvious realization. Before he could voice anything however, Izzy gave him the answer when she turned to EDI and positively beamed. "And you're EDI! Wow, it's kind of wierd meeting... well, me... kind of. Eh, fuck it - hi EDI, it's awesome to meet ya!"

"That's... an AI?"

Liara stifled a grin behind her hand at Shepard's dumbfounded tone, while Andy, Jack, and Izzy had no qualms about laughing out loud. "'Course I'm an AI! Andy reprogrammed me from the base code of EDI about eight months ago...ish, and booted me up six weeks ago. Ever since then I've been peruuusing my way through some vids and stuff, and then Andy gave me a body!" The woman in the hologram spun around with a bright smile on her face, "Isn't he just fantastic!"

"Stop hitting on my man," groused Jack with a hidden grin, getting a raspberry in return.

"Yeah, fuck you too."

"I don't think the crew would appreciate having a swearing AI." Pouting, Izzy turned to him; her bottom lip quivering and her eyes shining with unshead tears. Shepard blanched at the expression, and then eventually caved. "Fine, so it might not be so bad. "

"YAY!" Izzy cheered in triumph, "EDI's getting a makeover!"

Shaking his head with defeated despair Shepard turned to Andrew, "Right, you're in charge of that then... God I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

"Miranda's gonna be pissed," agreed Jacob, but all he got was a bunch of uncaring shrugs.

EDI was silent for a couple more seconds before speaking in her normal monotone, although Izzy grinned when she picked up the minute fluctuation of excitement in her voice. "The Port Observation on the Crew Deck is suitable for your needs, Mister Kronos, Jack."

Already knowing that he was on the crew instead of Kasumi he nodded and thanked the AI, who blinked out of existence after Izzy told her they'd be best friends. Izzy dissapeared a moment later and Shepard gave Andrew a wry smile, "Well it looks like you're going to be... popular. Tali will probably have a problem with unshackling the AI, what with the whole Geth situation and all."

Andy shook his head with a small smile, "Kar thought the same; he's very anti-Geth and AI... or at least used to be. We treat Izzy like a human being; no names that stand for anything, no orders, nothing like that. She's a close friend to all of us, and when you realize that they _are_ sentient and treat them as such then they can be great people, as well as rediculously helpful. In a month or two, just to let EDI decide what kind of personality she wants to go for, I'll sit down and ask her what she wants to look like and sound like and I'll commission the Asari that helped with Izzy and did Jack's and my tattoos."

Shepard gave a small smile and cocked his head to the side. "You're very different from what I anticipated you would be like," he admitted, and Jack sent the Spectre a grin.

"Best get used to it Shep, our entire team is unpredictable." Nodding to their new boss Andrew and Jack walked out the room and headed towards the elevator. Jack was uncharacteristically tense on the way down, but Andew understood why... she'd just made the decision to take a huge leap in their relationship, and for Jack something like advancing from hugging to kissing was huge... sleeping in the same room, and the same bed if the layout of 'Kasumi's' quarters was the same as in the game was anything to go by, was one of the biggest things she'd decided in quite some time.

They arrived at the Crew Deck seconds later and stepped out before Andy led her to their room; the layout of the Normandy burned into his head. He'd certainly navigated it enough in the game to know where everything was. There were a couple of doors around that hadn't been in the game, but overall it was virtually identical. Entering the room Jack saw the single, queen-sized bed and stiffened even further before plonking herself down on the couch and burying her face in her hands as some Cerberus workers filed in with their cases of equipment and clothing. When they'd left and Andy was no longer telling them where to put things down he leaned on the doorframe as he quickly hacked into the locking mechanism and uploaded his own custom code into its operating system. "You sure about this Jack?"

She shook her head from the couch; head still in her hands. "No, I'm not."

"Well then I'll sleep on the couch, no big deal."

"... You sure?"

He nodded easily, "Yeah, sure, no problem. If you're uncomfortable with sleeping in the same bed then that's okay - I'm not going to fuck it all up by pushing you."

"... Which means that you want to sleep together, but don't want to push me into it." He couldn't deny it; she was right, and so he nodded his head. Over the last two years Jack had become more and more perceptive as her meditations calmed her mind and allowed for her thoughts to become clearer.

"Jack, I love you - of course I want to sleep with you."

She stared at the floor for several very long minutes as Andrew tinkered aimlessly away at his omni-tool, before finally looking up at him. "Andy... do you want to fu- make love to me?"

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't."

She didn't break eye contact, and neither did he. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"Neither am I," he smiled, "even though I want to... it's not time yet."

"... So you'd be okay with just sleeping together? No... funny stuff or anything?"

He smiled and walked over to sit beside her on the couch; leaning back into the sim-leather and nodding. "Yeah, I'd really like that. The few times we've fallen asleep together I always feel bloody brilliant when I wake up... and if I wake up before you do then I just love watching you sleep." She blushed and he leant over to pull her into his side. She willingly gave into him and shuffled around to get comfortable. "Jack, I promise you that there'll be no funny business, but I can't control what I do in my sleep. Chances are you'll wake up to me having a hard-on a few times, or my hands in places they shouldn't be... but if you're okay with that then I'd really like to share the same bed."

She was silent for several seconds before standing up and streching; her vertebrae cracking back into place as she stumbled towards the bed. She collapsed onto it and kicked off her shoes before tugging off her pants and singlet; leaving her in just a pair of jockey-style underwear and a sport's bra. Slipping under the sim-silk covers she turned over to face him and gave a nervous smile - something that would never be seen on her face in public. Blushes she couldn't control, but her expression was always tamed to show no weakness when around others. "Well... come on then. We only got two hours sleep after the mission... and you must be as tired as I am."

Smiling softly he walked over to the bed; stripping off his own shirt and pants; leaving him in just a pair of jockeys. He gave her a wink when he saw her drinking him in and she blushed brightly before lowering her eyes with a small smile on her lips. She tensed when he slid in next to her, and Andy watched as she took in a deep breath and relaxed. Slowly he came in behind her and hugged himself to her from behind, and once mroe she tensed. "Is this okay?" After a moment she relaxed again and nodded, and he shuffled around to get comfortable before moving his left arm restlessly around; his other one comfortably resting undeneath his pillow to prop it up enough to be comfortable. Oh he knew _precisely_ where his limb wanted to be, but was unsure whether Jack would be comfortable with it.

Taking a deep breath he waved his arm to pull the room into darkness with it's inbuilt motion sensors; the lights of the citadel far behind them; left in the Normandy's wake, and then lay his head on his pillow; his arm still tense and held up above her body underneath the sheets. "Uhrm... Jack?"

"Mmm?"

He could hear the contentedness in her tone, and so hoped that he wouldn't ruin it because of his body's trecherous wants. "Can- I mean... fuck..." he muttered to himself. "Look, you know what I said about hands being in... places when you wake up?"

She turned her head slightly in the darkness, "...yeah?"

"Well it seems that my body kind of wants to do it... well, now."

"...Andy, just spit it out already."

Taking a deep breath he winced slightly. "Jack, may I cup your breast?"

"...You fuckin' what?"

"May I cup your breast, Jack," he repeated, and she turned her head even more; her right eye peering at him over her shoulder.

"You want to _cup_ my breast? Why the fuck would you want to do that?"

He scoffed, "Well apart from the fact that you have very nice breasts Jack," he could see her blush deepen in the darkness, "it just... it's what I want to do to get comfortable. It's kinda hard to explain."

There was a minute's silence as she thought about what he wanted, and then she gave a small nod. "Okay... but if I don't like it then stop, alright?"

He nodded and took in a deep breath before reaching around to gently cup her right breast in his hand, and she tensed once more - this time very stiffly. Hearing no complaint thus far he let out his breath and snuggled closer into her back; his own body finally relaxing and feeling comfortable. After several seconds he murmured quietly, "That's all I wanted to do Jack... are you okay with this?"

She was silent for several seconds before giving a tense chuckle, but when she spoke he could tell that it was just a way to express her fear and barely suppressed emotions. "Yeah... just give me a moment, 'kay? It's... it's just so... different to be like this but not be... y'know, fucking." Slowly her muscles started relaxing, and as soon as they started the tension seemed to simply bleed out of her. When she spoke he could hear the beaming smile in her voice, as well as imagine the tears threatening her eyes. "This is so nice... to just be like this."

He smiled and closed his eyes, nodding in agreement as his chin came to rest on the top of her head; her hair whispering over his neck. "Yeah... I'm glad you suggested this."

She didn't answer for quite some time, but just as he was nodding off to sleep he felt her snuggle deeper back into him and murmur happily, "Me too."

* * *

Jack was the one to wake up first.

She had awoken to find herself in a different place from normal, and had tensed immediately when she felt somebody spooning again her back, and was one second away from blowing them to pieces when she felt their hand gently cupping her breast. With a sudden flood of information however she remembered just why she was being held close in bed, and by whom... and her scowl and angry eyes softened until she had a small smile on her face. She was in bed with the man she loved above all else; anybody and anything, and not only was he in bed with her, but he was _sleeping_ beside her - not fondling her, not raping her, not _fucking_ her; just sleeping, and the experience was completely new to the young woman. She carefully turned over so that she could look at his face, and she grinned when he grumbled in his sleep and cluched her tighter; her hands resting on his bare chest.

Looking over the time she had spent with the young blonde, she had changed so much that had she been told beforehand that she would be capable of doing many of the things she had done she would have reduced that person into a mere bloodstain on the walls and floor. It wasn't just physically, in fact the majority of the changes had been mental - the only physical ones being her increased biotics, her new tattoo, and a more athletic muscle tone. Although her bloodlust was still abundantly present; too ingrained by the childhood conditioning that Cerberus put her through, it had toned down considerably. She still enjoyed and revelled in the feel of battle and the smells of warfare, but now she had emotions that far outshone the lust for violence - her love for Andrew being the one on the top of the list. She looked down at their bodies; held close to each other and completely relaxed, and smiled. She had _never_ been so relaxed before in her entire life - even when falling asleep with him in the past by accident; and she knew that it was because she had consciously accepted not only the jump in their relationship, but the fact that he could touch her; be close to her; be _with_ her at her most vulnerable when she was asleep and not aware of her surroundings without taking advantage of her. To many she knew it would seem almost absurd; they had been together for just under two years, and romantically for one and a half, and by this point virtually all normal people would have advanced into a sexual relationship... and yet Jack had only just found it in herself to advance into _sleeping _together; not even fondling, or 'touching'. She accepted his light caresses and massages when kissing, hugging, and being alone, but last night was the first time she had allowed him to touch her anywhere remotely sexual... and even then she knew that it wasn't a matter of lust for him, but rather it just felt natural, and comfortable to hold her in such a way.

It made her feel warm inside.

She watched his face slowly gain tinges of awareness; the muscles tensing slightly under his skin as they prepared themselves for the day ahead. Slowly his body stiffened beside her and she watched with an innocent smile as he streched with a groan of satistaction before opening his eyes and smiling at her in the dim light. "Hey there."

Her smile widened and she leant up to press a small, chaste kiss to his lips before retreating back to the comfort of his chest; eventually murmuring her well thought-out, and very intelligent response to his greeting. "Hey."

"Ready to get up?"

"Just a few more minutes," she mumbled, and he gave a small chuckle before tightening his arms around her and closing his eyes once more.

"So, first day on the Normandy."

"Mmhm," she hummed in agreement, "That Cerberus bitch'd better not get in my way."

"Well we're the ones with the right of way here," he reminded her, "she antagonises us, we can unleash on her again... an extended stay in the med bay might be in order if that happens."

"I'll fuckin' flay her alive if she insults you again."

He felt a wave of warmth flood through her at the fact that she was defending him, but pushed it aside and nodded. "Same goes for you too Love."

"...Why do you call me that?"

"I thought that'd be obvious Jack; I love you. Don't you like it?"

She shook her head in the negative, "No, I like it... it's just it'll take a bit of getting used to."

"Can I add it to the list?"

She silently contemplated his question for a moment before nodding shyly, a blush across her cheeks. "Yeah... but only if I can do the same if I feel like it."

He shrugged happily, "Sure."

"...Calling you love sounds wierd though - I might just stick to calling you 'fucker'."

He gave a small bark of laughter, "That works for me. You know, I reckon you're the only person that uses a curse as an endearment."

"I love you too fucker." Contrary to Jack's 'just a couple more minutes', they finally dragged themselves out of bed nearly an hour later having dozed the time away enjoying being in each others arms; their skin in contact like never before. "We allowed to wear whatever the fuck we want Andy?"

He looked over his shoulder to see her holding her favourite pair of skinny jeans and a white tanktop and gave a shrug, "We're specialists; technically not a part of the Cerberus crew." He held up his own pair of jeans and a black singlet with a shrug, "I'm not wearing any Cerberus shit, so we might as well just do whatever the hell we want."

Jack gave a grin and nodded, "My sentiments exactly, my dear Watson."

Shaking his head with a wide grin he walked towards the door so that he could go to the bathroom to get changed, "I have _no_ idea where you picked that up." When he stepped out of their room however, still only clad in his jockeys, he found himself almost face to face with Kelly Chambers who quickly found his abs and toned body rather fascinating... and quite attractive if the blush on her face was anything to go by. Clearing his throat her head snapped up to look at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Thou shalt not covet another man's wife? I'd say that applies to a woman's partner as well, Miss Chambers. Please wait a moment while I get changed and then we can talk."

He didn't even give her time to nod before heading into the male's bathroom and locking the door after him before changing out of his old underwear, shoving them in the laundry chute where it registered his omni-tool so that they knew who to return the clothing to, and quickly slipped into his casual clothes before walking back out to find the still-blushing Kelly leaning against the wall leading to his and Jack's room. Despite the fact that he was wearing pants, his arms and a portion of his upper chest with his tattoo was still clearly visible, and with a roll of his eyes he noted that the young red-head still had a hard time keeping her eyes focussed on his face. "You wished to speak with me Yeoman?"

Once again her eyes snapped back up to his and the blushing returned full-force, and he raised a quizzical eyebrow; had she been this bad in the game? It certainly hadn't seemed so... but then again perhaps she had a muscle fetish - none of the outfits the Commander had worn showed off quite as much muscle as he was currently. He still found it quite rude considering Jack was mere meters away. "Ah, yes - I'm-"

"Kelly Chambers, yes, I'm aware," he interrupted dryly, "you provide councelling for the crew, and give psychological evaluations to Shepard... that, and apparently you seem to enjoy flirting with even attached men. I can't say I'm impressed so far, Yeoman Chambers." She looked completely taken aback by his attitude, and couldn't even form a coherent sentence before he had walked past her, opened the door to his room, and then locked it shut behind him. Jack looked up from the couch where she was perusing some new data from the Shadow Broker system and gave him a smile, before frowning when she caught his annoyed expression. "Our 'councillor' seems more... versed in oogling people than actually doing her job," he grunted as he sat down beside her, "even when she knows said person is attached."

Jack, understandably, looked pissed off. "Some Cerberus shrink fucking _hit_ on you?"

"Ah... no, she didn't quite get to that; she just stared."

"Andy, if another woman touches you, I'll fucking kill them."

"Fair enough," he said as she snuggled into his side, and the two spent the next couple of hours shorting out all of the surveillance devices in the room meant to monitor them, as well as talking to Izzy. They were interrupted in the middle of intelligence on the Illusive Man when Joker's voice came over the communications. "Ah, Jack and Andrew, Shepard wants to see you in the briefing room."

Immediately getting to their feet they slid into their slippers by the door and marched directly across and into the waiting elevator which took them straight up to the CIC. Shepard was waiting for them, and they followed him into the meeting room where he immediately pulled up the dossier on Archangel. Jack held up her hand, "Seen it Shepard, you don't need to brief us."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms with an amused look on his face. "Right, so I can assume you know why I called you here?"

"How long 'till we reach Omega, 'cause I'm fucking hungry."

"'round an hour."

Andy looked at her and gave a nod. "Plenty of time for brekkie. We'll be ready by the airlock by the time we dock."

A round of nods later the pair went back to the elevator, catching sight of Liara in the process and giving her identical saucy winks while pointing suggestively at Shepard. The Asari's face turned a deep blue and she buried her head in her hands in embarassment, much to the pair's amusement. Shepard caught the tail end of their laughter and looked questiningly at Liara, which just made her blush harder and give a groan of mortification. Down on the Crew Deck Gardener quickly served them something that actually tasted alright; filled with tonnes of carbohydrates, sugars and lipids to aid them in their mission, and the two immediately tucked in side-by-side. Both raised their heads when they heard a pneumatic hiss from across the room, and their eyes narrowed in complete unison when Miranda emerged from her office looking very smug about something. The moment she caught sight of them however her expression turned into a snarl, and she was treated to dual glares that actually pushed her into the wall with the small amount of biotics they carried. She hurried out of sight when she realized what had happened and what it meant, and Jack gave Andy a triumphant grin when the raven-haired operative had dissapeared around the corner. "Bitch's starting to realize our biotics are a tad more fucking powerful than she previously anticipated."

"Mmhm," he hummed in agreement as he chewed on his mouthful of... whatever it was. "She'll hopefully take it as a sign to stay the fuck away, but if she forgets that fact then I'll have no problems reminding her that she's messing with people _waaaay_ out of her league."

After finishing their fifths they returned to their quarters and once more Andrew moved to go to the bathroom on the other side of the hall to get changed into his armour. He found himself held back by a hand that was gripping his wrist however, and he turned his head over his shoulder to see Jack giving him a small smile and shaking her head. "Stay here and change; I know you won't look without my permission."

Twenty minutes later the pair walked out of their room in their matching armour; the only difference being the slimmer build and pronounced bust on Jack, with their masks held in their hands ready to put on the moment they entered the airlock. Omega smelled like piss at the best of times, and by the sounds of it it was _not_ the best of times. Neither had a wish to smell what rotting sewers containing several different species' waste would be like. Shepard met them once more outside the elevator, dressed in his own armour with his weapons already strapped to his back, and he raised an eyebrow when he saw the M-98 Widow sniper rifles, M-96 Mattocks, and Geth Plasma shotguns on their backs, with their M-5 Phalanx heavy pistols magnetized to their thighs. "Okay, now I'm impressed. How the hell did you get that kind of equipment?"

"Contacts Shep, y'know, having people actually _like_ you" smirked Jack, and Andy gave a wide grin at the deadpan expression on their new boss' face.

"Fuck it," they heard him mutter, and followed him into the airlock the second they felt themselves dock. Pulling on their masks they watched the Commander intently, and stiffled snickers when the outside door opened and Shepard literally took a step back from the stench that permeated his nostrils. "Aw come on! What the fuck?"

Turning around he saw his two comrades wearing masks and glared, at least until Andy had finally gotten over his amusement and handed him a spare he had tucked away specifically for this moment. Only Jack noticed Andy discreetly stop the recording program on his omni-tool and forward it to all of the crew, and she dug him in the ribs to get his attention. The slight movement under both their masks belied their stifled hilarity. "Cheers," came the now-clear voice of their Commander over the communication's network, and Andy gave him a stoic nod.

"No problem Shep."

After coming across a beefy Batarian that ordered them to go to Afterlife they advanced out of the Docks and onto Omega proper. "Hey, before we go and get Archangel Shep, would you mind if we dropped by the trading floor and picked up those couplings Gabrielle and Kenneth wanted?"

"...I'm going to have to get used to you just knowing crap, won't I?"

"Yep."

"...I'm getting too old for this shit."

Jack clapped him firmly over the back, grinning widely, "Ah c'mon Shep! Man the fuck up!"

"Christ, just being around you two makes me want to swear."

As they made their way to the trading area on Omega Andy grinned across at him. "You'll have to get used to that too. Jack's influenced me in that respect... so prepared to be influenced yourself. Only Liara's come out of her experiences with Jack unscathed in the cursing department."

A quick few purchases later, including two brand new scopes for Jack and Andy's sniper rifles, much to the exasperation of Shepard when he saw the huge price tag, they were entering Afterlife after being nodded in by the very same Batarian that had met them at the docks. When they entered Andy once more noticed Jack give him a glance to see his reactions to the Asari dancers, and found him looking at her instead. Over a private channel he said, "You and me Jack, forever, yeah?"

Her reply was to brush her arm up against his and nod, and not a single person around them was any the wiser about their conversation or actions. As they were walking towards the stairs that led to Aria's platform Andy removed his mask - glad that the club had air filters - prompting raised eyebrows from his two companions. Smirking he continued on ahead with the two following confusedly behind, nodded to the Turian bouncer at the bottom of the stairs who grinned and nodded back, and then continued upwards. When Shepard and Jack rounded the corner they dropped their jaws when they saw Aria walking down the stairs to meet Andy and engulf him in a hug with a wide grin on her face. "Kronos!" she greeted loudly before pulling back and looking him over with a nod of approval - her grin not diminishing in the slightest, "it's been ages!"

"Two years," he agreed with a smile, and then took a step back to allow her to see his two companions.

By this point they had removed their masks as well, and Aria raised an eyebrow. "John Shepard and the notorious Subject Zero...my, you still do keep interesting company."

"It's just Jack," he corrected as he took his girlfriends hand and led her up to the comfortable settees at the top of the stairs, "Subject Zero is... degrading for her."

Shepard joined them a moment later and Aria sat parallel from the three. "I didn't take you for one to go for romance, Andrew."

Jack gave a knowing snort, "I didn't take _myself_ for a romantic chick either, but he managed it."

Aria nodded knowingly and then fixed Andrew with a smile. "So what can I do for you Kronos?"

Getting a nod from Shepard Andrew took the lead; in this situation he was the best person to speak. "Two things," he said while leaning back and sinking into the soft material of the couch, "first is information on Archangel."

Aria's eyes lit up and she leaned forwards with a nod. "You're not the only one to be looking for Archangel; he's got about half of Omega gunning for him. He's pissed off some very powerful people."

"Blue Suns? I thought I wiped them all out when I was here last."

Getting two wide-eyed looks from his companions, which he ignored for the time being, she shook her head. "They stayed that way for about a year, which was fucking fantastic by the way, and then they started trickling back in again. They're twice the size they were last time; seems they actually want a sporting chance against you if you decided to come back and slaughter them again."

"So..."

"So they're planning a mission to kill him, and Eclipse and the Bloodpack are more than willing to jump in to get rid of him; he's been ruining their business for quite some time. He's holed up somewhere down in the lower levels, but they're recruiting just over the other side of the room. You're lucky you wiped that video evidence from inside their base; you'd be dead the moment they saw you otherwise."

Andrew gave her a wide grin, "Nah, I don't think so. See, I've only gotten better over the two years I've been away... that, and now Jack's only below me in power." He looked proudly down at the woman in question and she smiled up at him. "She lacks experience, but she makes up for it in determination."

"Fuck you."

Aria gave Andy a wry smile, "Oh you two are perfect for each other."

Giving a happy shrug he nodded, and Aria sat back in her seat with a small chuckle. "And the second thing?"

"Ah, yes, Doctor Solus."

Andrew saw Shepard smack his head with his gloved hand at the extra titbit of information, and neither Aria or Jack missed it. Andy's smirk was also quite obvious. "The Doctor," she repeated with a nod, "yes... he has been busy. As you probably know there's a quarintine in the Slums at the moment; there's a plague that's lethal to Batarians and Turians swarming through the area. Mordin's right in the middle of it... pissed of all the wrong people as well - mostly the Vorcha and Bloodpack mercs." She cocked her head to the side curiously, "What do you need them both for anyway?"

Leaning forward Andrew fixed her with a serious expression, and as she'd known him for his entire year on Omega she knew that when he had such a look about him it was serious. She immediately gave him her complete attention. "You and I discussed the Reapers-"

"Andrew, you don't have the author-"

"Like _fuck_ I don't Shepard," he ground out with a powerful glare, and the Spectre sat back in his seat with a look of shock. "Aria's a friend, and a damn good one. Don't make the same mistake as the Council Shepard; keeping it all from the public, keeping all the information to yourself, because that's what'll get us all killed." He nodded in Aria's direction, "She's done a damn good job of brining order to Omega, and even if she _wasn't_ a good friend of mine I'd tell her what was going on, because she's essentially responsible for every single sentient being living on this rock, and she deserves to know the threat... and not only that but she has contacts that could help us both immediately, and in the long run."

The two men stared at each other for several seconds until Shepard finally yielded and gave a nod, and Andy turned back to Aria without acknowledging his 'boss'. "As I was saying, we discussed the Reapers, yes?" At her nod he continued, "Well they're using the Collectors as... harbingers of their destruction. They're attacking human colonies with the intent to abduct the inhabitants, for what purpose we cannot be sure," _'at least without me revealing the future'_, "but it's happening all the same. They've stepped up their timetable, and so we're stepping up ours."

"You're recruiting?" she asked rhetorically, and then nodded; resting her chin on top of her steppled fingers. "Thank you, Andrew, for bringing this to my attention. In the fight coming, rest assured that you and your comrades are offered safe haven here. I was meaning to tell you during the voice call four months ago, but I have reserved a compound in the higher levels for your use in thanks for ridding Omega of the Blue Suns threat. Destroy them again, as well as the other mercs, and consider it permanently yours."

His eyes gleaming with mischief he nodded, "Consider it done."

Jack, notably, also looked at Aria with barely concealed excitement. "How many mercs are there?"

Thinking for a moment, and treating the young woman as an equal as she did Andrew - due most in part because the man himself had chosen Jack as his lover - she answered with a slightly tentative, "Around two, maybe three hundred all up? That's the Bloodpack, Eclipse and Blue Suns all together."

"...Hey Aria, are my armaments still around?"

Thirty minutes later after hashing out the details, and promising to keep in closer contact with the unofficial 'Queen of Omega' in future, they quickly headed to the recruting station where Andrew likely saved a youngster's life by ruining his gun before he could follow their lead. After asking Shepard to wait by the Transport Station, and explaining that he had to go and pick up some of his gear that he'd left in a secure lock-box, Andrew led Jack back towards the Trading Floor. "So... friendly with her, are you?"

Sending Jack a mildly dissaproving glare that was conveyed even behind his mask's glowing eyes he nodded, "Yes, and friendly is all it has ever been."

"Well she seemed kind of... forward with you."

"She wanted more," he confessed after a moment, "but I wasn't receptive to her advances. I told her so, and she accepted that all we'd ever be was friends - besides, she approves of you, which says a lot."

Jack silently contemplated his words for the majority of the journey, finally nodding as they entered a narrow alleyway. "Right. Hey, you a virgin?"

He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression on his face. "Quite a question you have in a dark alley, don't ya think?"

"Just answer the fucking question already," she groused, and Andy could just imagine the small blush on her face.

He turned around with a small smile before shaking his head. "No, I'm not."

"Right." There was nothing more to be said. Although Jack was coming to realise that love could make everything in life more wonderful, that hadn't translated to sex yet. She'd grown up around it; done it so many times that her question was just that - a question of idle curiosity. She hadn't expected him to be a virgin, nor was she dissappointed that she wouldn't be his first when the time came - just as he wasn't dissappointed in regards her. Walking in a comfortable silence they finally came to a small room with a desk, and the Turian sitting at it raised his eyebrows when he saw them enter.

"Help you two?"

Not recognising the man Andrew nodded civilly as he took off his mask to breath in the filtered air. "Yeah. Just need to get a box out of storage."

"Sure, what's your ID?"

Swiping his omni-tool over the offered scanner his information came up - at least the information of one of his aliases did - and the Turian glanced over it before nodding and heading out the back with nary a word.

"Seems kinda insecure," Jack commented as she looked around, and looked to Andrew when he gave a small chuckle.

"They'd like you to think that, but the moment you step through that door," he pointed to the one which the Turian had dissappeared behind, "you're screwed if you don't have authorisation. There's four YMIR Mechs standing in a semi-circle arrangement as soon as you come out into the storage room, and behind them there's fifty FENRIR and LOKI mechs standing guard. In other words, you just don't attack this place... normally at least. With our biotics we could probably get through them without too much trouble, but to be quite honest I wouldn't risk it unless I really had to."

"...What the fuck do they need that kind of security for?"

"Artifacts, weapons, drugs; virtually anything really. Hell, even the Batarian Slavers keep some of their... 'stock' here."

"And you haven't done anything about it?"

He glared at her, "Once again Jack you've opened your mouth without thinking about it." He saw her redden with anger, but he cut her off before she could blow up on him. "You really think I'd let something like that go unchecked? That I'd allow Batarians to just ship off fellow human beings to be slaves?" The redness in her cheeks was quickly changed into an embarrassed blush as she shook her head, and he let out a sigh as he rubbed his brow. "We really need to sit down and discuss this after the mission Jack. I know you love me, and I love you, but even with all that I've done and shown you it seems that this... distrust and classifying me as 'normal' just isn't dissipating. Yes," he interrupted when he saw her open her mouth, "last night was a huge step in the trust department, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I think that's as far as we can go at the moment with these issues you have, okay?"

She looked down and nodded sadly, knowing what he said was true, but looked up when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, none of that. I know you don't _mean_ to be distrustful, and that it's a result of the life you've lived." Letting her go when the Turian re-entered he sent her a warm smile, "We'll get through it."

Giving his attention to the Turian when he saw Jack's small smile and return nod he swiped his omni-tool once more to pay for the package, put his mask back on, and then left without a backwards glance. Jack followed, and her voice entered his ear crystal clear over the communications network. "What's in the box?"

"Just some explosives," he replied airily, and she looked at him with a stern expression - not that he could see mind you.

"Why do I get the feeling that they're bit more fucking crazy that your normal explosives?"

"Ah... because they are?"

His maniacal grin could actually be _heard_. When they reached Shepard they quickly jumped in the ride offered by the Blue Suns merc, and after a rather lenthy trip they arrived at the port where they were greeted and debriefed by a Batarian named Salkie. Andrew idly thought that he looked considerably uglier than he had in the game, and daydreamed as Shepard asked his questions that he already knew the answers to. It was as he was looking over his armour to pass the time that he saw something that made his blood boil, and he was surprised that he hadn't noticed it earlier. "That _fucking bitch!_" he yelled, interrupting the conversation between Shepard and the merc, and both Jack and the Spectre looked at him in shock. Stabbing his finger furiously at the Cerberus logo that was now on his shoulder guard and chest he glowered at Shepard, and when Jack checked her own armour in the same places the glowing in her mask's eyes intensified to levels matching her equally pissed off boyfriend. "I swear to fucking God Shepard that this is the last goddamn straw," he growled, "both Jack and I hate Cerberus with a motherfucking passion, and your little cheerleader... the moment this mission is over Shepard you'd best contact Chakwas and tell her to prepare for some life-saving surgery. We'll make sure she doesn't die, but some permanent damage will _not_ be out of the question - you hear me?"

Nodding his head in resignation Shepard nodded; he'd warned Miranda to keep out of their hair, and that he'd look the other way no matter the consequences of her actions in regard the two, and he was a man of his word. Salkie, by no surprise, looked highly confused at the outburst, but pointed them in the right direction when Shepard asked him. Both Jack and Andrew slowly calmed as they meditated until their anger was a mere bubbling pool of fury underneath their battle-readiness and bloodlust. Still carrying the case in his hands Andrew idly opened it and pulled a small, egg-sized devices from inside; lobbing them stealthily underneath various objects in all the rooms they passed. Shepard watched with curiosity, but didn't voice his concerns - choosing instead to talk to the mercs and look around. Reconnaissance, he'd been taught in the Alliance, could save your life. As it happened, it didn't save _his_, but it had the potential to save Aria's when he came across a datapad that mentioned a hit on the Asari. Andy had all but forgotten that little detail, but thanked Shepard when he was handed it and immediately sent it off to his friend by jacking into the local information pathways via his omni-tool. Moving forwards they were directed to Sergeant Cathka, although when Shepard moved to stab the Batairan in the back he'd been held back by Andy who had instead uploaded a virus created by himself and Izzy that would allow him to destroy the ship easily if it became a problem.

And then there they were; standing on the bottlenecked bridge leading to where Archangel was shooting from in the upper story.

Once again it seemed almost ethereal to Andrew; having played this very scene multiple times back on _his_ Earth. Jack saw his hesitation and gave an understanding nod, and he gave one back before pulling a small tube from inside the case he was carrying before hiffing the now-useless box away. Shepard gave him a look of exasperation when he saw what it was, whereas Jack just gained a highly excited look on her face. Without pause Andy flicked the safety cap off, jammed his finger down on the button, grinned, and said one word: -

"Boom."

His vocalisation of the resulting explosion did no justice whatsoever. The entire station shook with the force of the explosions that tore through level they were on, and Andrew gave a sneer to himself when his omni-tool popped up and told him the death toll; calculated by summing up the heat signatures that the egg-nukes picked up before detonating. "Aria owes me for three hundred and fifty seven mercs," he quipped evilly, and Jack gave a snicker at his tone. Shepard, contrarily, looked at the two like they were insane.

Andrew had to admit that they probably were, slightly.

The mercs who had gotten ahead of them were looking around with wide eyes, at least until they saw Andy holding the detonator looking quite pleased with himself. He didn't even have to remove his mask to show his amusement at the situation; his body language, a.k.a striking a cool pose, was more than capable of expressing his mirth at the huge explosions that had occurred seconds previously. "KILL THEM!" came the battle cry from one of the human sentinels; haptic shields covering her torso and arms, and Andy dissappeared. Jack pushed her hands outwards with a yell, and huge blue shockwaves pounded a path right into their attackers - the force of the attack leaving half-meter deep craters in the ground. Shepard ducked behind cover and was expertly sniping off those that had somehow managed to evade Jack's biotic blasts, but after three minute's fighting the entire battleground fell silent. With a slight cracking sound as his infiltration layer deactivated, Andrew pulled off his mask and grinned down on his boss and girlfriend from right beside Archangel who was looking at him with wide eyes. Waving wildly to get their attention he hollered, "They're all dead, come on up! I've closed down the basement entries and loaded them up with Izzy's and my OS, so we're clear!"

Hearing a cleared throat beside him as he watched Jack and Shepard jog into the storey below he turned his head to see Archangel removing his mask and fixing him with a confused, but slightly awed expression. "Uhrm, excuse my asking, but just who are you?"

Holding out his hand with a winning smile he replied, "Andrew Kronos, at your service Garrus."

The Turian's eyes widened, "Kronos? I've heard about y-"

"Garrus, is that you?"

Turning his attention away from the freelance merc who was promptly glomped by his grinning girlfriend. Garrus grinned at his old teammate. "Shepard, you have no idea how nice it is to see a friendly face."

"What're you doing here anyway?"

"Just... keeping my skills sharp." Turning his head to the battleground below he shook his head, "Although it seems I'm done for the day. What the hell was that explosion anyway?"

"That'd be me," confessed Andrew with a wide grin, "I planted miniature nukes in all the rooms as we made out way in to clear out reinforcements - though I did leave the gunship intact for the most part-"

"You're going to DIE!"

Twisting around to face the hovering ship he grinned, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

There was some grumbling, and then some muttered cursing, and then the sound of thumping over the loudspeakers. "Fucking _fire_! Hunk of useless shit!"

Garrus and Shepard fixed the smug biotic duo with looks of... worry. "You two... you're just as fucking scary as the stories say you are."

"Thanks freakyface."

Noticing the Turian was looking annoyed, Shepad sighed and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't even try it - she's got a nickname for pretty much everybody, hell, she calls her Quarian teammate _bitch-bucket_ for Christ's sake, and her boyfriend," he nodded to Andrew who was doing a masterful job of appearing aloof, "Fucker."

Hearing a murmured whipping sound Andy sent a biotic charge through Garrus' body and the Turian jolted upwards with a howl of pain. He wisely didn't pass comment on the pair's relationship again. Looking back to the still-hovering gunship Andy gave a thoughtful frown, but was jolted out of his thinking when Jack tapped a couple of buttons on his omni-tool and the machine blew up with a thundering explosion. Shrugging nonchalantly he turned back to the gaping soldiers, wrapped his arm around Jack's waist, and raised an eyebrow. "So when are we getting out of here?"


	8. Samara

**A/N: I don't own the Foo Fighters or Dire Straits.**

* * *

Jack watched Andrew pace in front of the bed where she was sitting and looked pleadingly at him. "Look, I'm sorry okay? It won't happen again." She was, of course, referring to her quick stereotyping of him at the storage facility on Omega under an hour previous.

He waved her off. "It's not that simple Jack; you can't just make a conscious decision about this and follow it through, because that's not the problem. The problem is that you've been treated like shit for your entire life and your subconscious is stopping you from letting your inhibitions go and trusting me."

"Well how the fuck are we going to fix something that I can't control?"

"I don't know," he admitted frustratedly as he sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. "I just don't know."

"I told you I'd fuck this up," she growled, and was surprised when, a moment later, she found herself bitoically flung against the wall and restrained there.

She watched as Andrew approached with barely veiled fear, and tensed when he halted mere centimeters from her. "Jack, you love me, and I love you. This isn't your goddamn fault; it's the fault of the people that made your childhood a misery. It took you nearly a year being around me twenty four seven to confess that you loved me, and another year on top of that for you to become comfortable sharing anything more intimate than kisses with me." He motioned to the bed to show what he was talking about, and she averted her eyes with a blush. "And now we're onto the very last step in our relationship; trusting each other with _everything_. It's huge, Jack, and daunting, even for me... but we can't even start on that until you know with all your being that I'm not like others. I would offer to take truth serum, but you know that I can make my body immune from that. Likewise neural scanning to detect lies won't work, becaue I can modify my brainwaves to reflect truth." He slowly lowered her back onto the surface of the bed where she collapsed onto her knees, and he turned to look out at the docking bay outside their window. "I'm out of ideas Jack; I can't guess what'll make you trust me the most - you need to figure that out yourself and tell me so that we can do it."

She was silent for several very long minutes, which Andrew was more than content to allow her, until she finally looked up at him - her face showing insecurity but determination. "Make love to me."

"...What?"

"Make love to me," she repeated, her voice firmer this time, "When two people... have sex, well it's more than just physical. You can tell everything about the person; how they treat others, how they treat friends, how easily they lose control... everything. Make love to me... and I'll be able to tell that you're different."

He looked at her for several seconds, almost disbelieving, but the expression on her face was anything but joking. "Jack, I don't want to rush this-"

"You're not," she interrupted, "I'm ready to do this. I'm ready for you to know me completely, and I want to know you like that as well. Nobody's ever... loved me enough to make me let down my shields when... well, you know." She looked at him; dead in the eye, "I want to see if you can, because if you can... then you are different from everybody else - I'll know it for sure."

"We've only just started sleeping together Jack, and now you're talking about sex? This is a huge jump, and I never wanted our first time to be a test. I wanted it to be a final consumation of what we feel for each other."

"Isn't that what it'll be?" she asked, her eyebrow lifted, "It'll be you allowing me to see all of you in a way that nobody's seen you before, and you seeing me in the same way... I hope."

He let out a groan and buried his face in his hands yet again, and she watched him sit still for nearly five minutes; the only sounds in the room being their breathing and the low hum of the Normandy. "Are you sure about this Jack? Because once we've done this, nothing will ever be the same again. After this, being friends probably wouldn't be possible... it's all or nothing right now. I need to know if you're confident, because if you're not then I'll wait for this. I don't want to lose you because of this."

She shook her head and looked down at her crossed legs. "More time wouldn't matter. I know I'm in love with you, and I know that I've trusted you with everything before to unlock my biotics... but you only fought my demons. You haven't seen all my dreams... the things I hold closest, and... this, us... coming together will tell me whether or not I'll ever be able to share that with you."

He looked deep into her eyes; searching for any hesitation of doubt, and upon finding only worry nodded slowly and let out a sigh. She watched as he walked into the bathroom and came out with a bottle of pills; shaking two of them out onto his palm before drinking them down with a glass of water he poured from the bar. "Sterility pills," he explained at her questioning expression. "I know Cerberus made you infertile... but just in case. I don't want us to be strained with pregnancy on the one-in-a-million chance it's possible." She nodded, her face taking on a decidedly slack quality, and he frowned before walking over to her and sitting at side on the bed. "Jack, I can't do this alone." She looked at him in confusion; her emotions returning to her face, and he smiled slightly at her. "When you said you wanted me to make love to you... I can't do it alone Jack. Making love is... I've never done it before, but it's sharing youself with your partner. I want to see the desire in your eyes; the happiness; the reluctance... I need to see _you_ so that I know what to do."

"But I don't-"

"You can't hide in your shell for this Jack. You can't just take... you have to give as well. I want to show you how much I love you, but if I do that and I can't see you return it... can you imagine how that would feel? There would be no mood between us; no want, no lust, no love, no happiness... I _need_ you here."

He could see the borderline panic at his words, but cupped her cheek to bring her attention back to him. "Just let yourself go," he murmured again her lips, and he felt her shiver at his hot breath against her skin, "just do what your heart tells you Jack." And then he kissed her.

It was tentative at first - not immediately passionate as many of their previous kisses had been. The added anticipation of what was to come, and what they wished from it, demanded that it not be rushed and that they were completely in tune with each other by the time they would finally come together both physically, and due to their biotics, mentally as well. Jack's lips were still slack however, and after several seconds Andrew pulled back to look at her. She averted her eyes, but he cupped her cheek in his palm and turned her head back so that she was forced to look at him and she hesitantly looked into his shining blue eyes. "I love you Jack... so please, kiss me back?"

Nodding demurely she leant forwards and kissed him, and once again tensed when he kissed her back - freezing when his arms came around her back and pulled her closer. Giving a deep sigh he pulled back and gave her a weak smile, and she averted her eyes once more. "We are rushing it," he said, and her head snapped back to look at him ready to interrupt once more, but found herself cut off when he placed a finger of her lips. "We are," he affirmed, "we're trying to make love for the sake of making love. Now isn't the right time Jack, and I don't know when it will be. Perhaps it'll be tonight, perhaps next week, month... maybe even next year, but we're forcing it." He leant down and placed a small kiss on her forehead and then stood up before giving a smile. "So we'll wait until it seems right, okay?"

She looked astonished. "Y...you're just gonna wait? I've been blue-balling you for two years and now you have a chance to get laid and you're going to _wait_?"

"Jack, my 'chance to get laid' as you put it, would have probably ruined out relationship. To be quite honest Jack, I could manage to wait a couple hundred years to 'get laid' if it meant that we'd still have what we have now." Walking back over to the counter he brought up his terminal and quickly accessed the Cerberus bugs in Miranda's office. "Our favourite Executive Commander's in her office, and she's due a visit. Keen?"

"Yeah..."

"Jack... JACK!"

She jolted at his yell and looked up, and he gave her a smile. "Don't sweat it. We'll get by, just like we always do, 'kay?" She nodded and closed her eyes, and he watched as her body slowly relaxed and a thin film of biotics flare across the surface of her skin.

When she opened her eyes they pulsed, literally pulsed with power, and she gave him a wide smile. "'Kay. Well then," she said as her smile turned into a dark smirk, "shall we pay our cheerleader a visit?"

"I think that'd be a fantastic idea Love."

Her smile widened, but she looked at him confused when she saw him tap away on his omni-tool for a second. "Just letting Shepard know what's happening so he can tell Chakwas to get ready."

"You know we could just let her die."

"It's tempting," he admitted, "but doing that would seriously fuck up the team dynamic on this ship - especially as Shepard won't be stepping in."

They walked out of their room together; the door locking securely behind them, and then took the left-hand fork onto the main floor of the Crew Deck. "Kronos! Jack!"

Both turned at the call for their attention and they saw Garrus sitting down at one of the dining tables, notably alone with all the human crew sitting elsewhere. Both frowned at that small detail, but Andy shook it off after a moment and smiled back at the Turian before taking a seat opposite and waving to Gardener, who quickly piled some plates with food and brought them over to the biotic couple. "Settling in alright Garrus?"

"Pretty good," he frowned, "but it's disconcering the lack of interaction between the human crew and us non-humans. Only Joker, Shepard, Liara, Tali and you two have actively spoken to me since I got on the ship, and that was four hours ago. Hell, you two even took time out of working on the AI to pay a visit."

"Well they're Cerberus," spat Jack, "what can you expect?"

She got a few well-earned glares for that rather loud comment, but all three just ignored the stares burning into their backs. Garrus shrugged in agreement, "I suppose, and it's better than nothing having you guys, and gals, being around."

Swallowing a mouthful of food Andy gave a nod, and then froze before a teasing grin spread across his face. "So Garrus, how're those... calibrations coming?"

"Been really busy actually," he replied, not picking up on Andy's tone, "I'm right-"

"In the middle of some calibrations at the moment?"

Garrus gave the blonde mercenary a shrewd look. "How did you know I was going to say that?"

"Just guessin', just guessin'."

"I'd say I'd believe you... but I really don't."

"Seriously though Garrus," Jack said after a second, having been informed of the Turian's anti-social tendancies over the course of being with Andrew, "you need to get out more." She held up her hand, stopping the protest before it could be voiced, and Andy stifled a chuckle; she'd changed so much since he'd met her, and he enjoyed watching her use her hidden intelligence rather than resorting to her old ways of stopping somebody from talking...

I.e. punching them brutally in the face.

"I didn't say ditch your fucking job freakface," Andy stifled a huge grin at Garrus' look of distaste, "so keep those fucking mandibles attached to your ugly fucking mug, but seriously man; socialize. I mean, two years ago I would've told socializing to fuck off too... but when you're around people that can understand you, and have a good laugh... it changes you - for the better."

Garrus looked surprised at her soft tone towards the end, but understood when Andy draped his arm around her shoulders and she moved slightly into his side. "I'll... I'll try getting out a bit more."

"Tell ya what Garrus; Kar, our pilot, I'm not sure if you've met him yet, Liara, Jack, Shepard and I were going to have a wee get together in our room tonight. You should come along and catch up without all the prying eyes of the crew. Shep'll be a bit tired after getting Mordin, but it'll be good company and we've got dextro-amino drinks and snacks for you, Kar, and Tali if you're so inclined."

It was clear he was surprised at the offer, but after a moment he gave a wide smile and a nod. "I'd like that Kronos... I'd like that a lot."

Andy gave a smile in return and stood; Jack following a moment later. The Turian looked down at the pair's sparkling clean plates in shock, and Jack gave him a smirk before tapping the side of her nose. "That's a secret between Andy and I."

Rolling his eyes the ex-C-Sec officer returned to his meal and Andy and Jack walked over to Miranda's office door. It didn't open, but that was because Andy had spoken to the newly unshackled EDI and told her to only open the doors if him and Jack asked for it - it made it easier to eavesdrop, or get phyched before they were about to assault somebody... just like they were planning on doing. Taking in a couple of deep breaths Jack looked over at her boyfriend, gave a nod, and then waved her hand at the door which quickly slid open. Walking in, Miranda looked up from her terminal with a haughty expression... which quickly caught in her throat when the door shut behind her visitiors, and a locked symbol floated over the center of it. She paled when she caught sight of their equally feral expressions. "Hello Miranda, we wanted to speak to you about our armour..."

* * *

Word had spread around the ship like wildfire that their XO was in the Medical Bay after being assaulted by Jack and Andrew, and the pair had gotten progressively more hostile looks until Shepard had made a ship-wide announcement explaining the situation - or at least as much as he was willing to divulge. Miranda had been beaten to within an inch of her life by the two, yes, however just before they were about to call Chakwas in with a strecher Andrew had picked up on a fluctuation in the woman's brainwaves that reminded him a little bit too much of a piece of Sovereign he'd managed to get within a few meters of by impersonating a C-Sec Scientist. He had quickly isolated the carrier wave, tracking it to a small foreign body within the Operative's head, and had told Jack to get Chakwas. When the doctor had entered she had been appalled at Lawson's state, but Jack had backed Andrew up and actually slapped the woman to stop her rant and make her listen. When she realized what Andrew was saying she quickly activated the stretcher and had Jack help her carry the severly injured woman over to her domain; Andrew walking by Lawson's side and focussing on keeping his mass effect field stable within her brain.

Of course the tranport _to_ the medical bay had been public, and that was what had started the rumors, but none of the three paid the murmurs and glowers any heed and quickly got to work on the Cerberus Operative. The extreme precision of the entire procedure would have drained Andrew had Jack not syncronised her biotics with his to lend him her reserves; ten hours keeping the foreign body isolated and its energy pulses contained was far more than he could achieve on his own, and by the end of the operation both Jack and Andrew were exhausted. The moment they saw the extracted device however, it became abundantly clear just what it was. It looked like a spider; purple, metallic tendrils floating eerily within the stasis field around it, and blue lines of light rippling through the breaks in the almost armor-like plating. It was far, far too reminiscient of Object Rho for Andrew's liking, and so with one last burst of energy he had crushed it into oblivion; destabilizing the atom orbitals until he literally reduced it into its basic elements; purged completely of its indocrinating energy.

It had been three weeks since the operation, and during that time Shepard had recruited Mordin, Samara, and Grunt... though the latter was still in a tank in the cargo hold. He'd taken others on the missions and left the two biotics to their own devices, which mainly consisted of purging Cerberus bugs from the ship, and upgrading and helping EDI acclimatise to her new abilities. Izzy had helped tremendously in that effort, and struck up a quick friendship with the Cerberus-built AI. Of course they had quickly redesigned EDI's hardware layer when they discovered Reaper technology imbedded within it, and now she was running quicker and happier than ever - with a new face to boot. Suffice to say that Kenneth Donnely_ actually_ paid attention to the messages given by EDI now. He would argue vehemently, however, that it had nothing to do with the fact that the AI was now a beautiful black-haired asian woman who wore a body-hugging black kimono... and whose bust was on prominent display.

Gabby took to keeping one of Gardener's old metal spatulas by her workstation to hit the Scottish engineer whenever he got distracted.

When Miranda had awakened she had tried to escape to contact the Illusive Man, but had found herself restrained by security protocols. Her attempts to override it with inbuilt Cerberus codewords failed spectacularly, as EDI had been purged of everything non-self, and eventually Jack and Andy had dropped by for their daily visit. Miranda had frozen at the sight of them, before quickly yelling out that she was about to be murdered in an attempt to draw the rest of the crew's attention. The fact that the medical bay was sound-proof and had one-way windows didn't help her plight, and so she had been forced to shut up when Jack had stuffed a gag into her mouth with a glare. It had taken nearly an hour's explaining as well as them showing the Operative the video that had been recorded of the operation to convince her that she had been played and betrayed just as she had been planning to do to Shepard had he stepped off Cerberus' pre-planned path, and Doctor Chakwas confirmed the pair's information when she arrived. After nearly two entire days filled with psychological tests to ensure that her loyalty to Cerberus was simply due to the Reaper-tech that had been stuck inside her head they allowed her to leave the Medical Bay whereupon she had apologised to Andrew and Jack in front of the entire crew at dinner time, as well as explaining that she didn't want them to be treated with hostility for their beating of her.

Life had quickly started looking up.

Waking up beside Jack after yet another late night gathering Andy looked blearily around before checking the inside of his left wrist where the numbers 0587 shone lightly through his skin; a small hack he'd managed to get working. It was very convenient to not have to bring up the whole interface just to get the time. Making sure not to disturb Jack who was lying on the bed beside him he slithered out of her embrace and walked silently over to the bar; stepping over a spooning Shepard and Liara, and passing an asleep, but snuggling Tali and Kar as he did so. As he poured himself a glass of water he stifled a chuckle at seeing Joker's head slumped in Garrus' lap and quickly brought up his omni-tool to take pictures before gently righting the sleeping pilot so that when he awoke he would be none the wiser. Gabrielle and Kenneth were sprawled out on the floor on the other side of his and Jack's bed, notably smiling as they hugged each other, and Andy shook his head. When the two would finally admit that they were in love with each other was anybody's guess. He'd even started a secret betting pool on when it would happen.

Garrus, the cyinical bastard, had bet on their death beds.

During the first gathering nearly three weeks ago they had just watched holo-vids, had some drinks and some snacks, and talked - however after a week's overcoming the chain of command taboo everybody had loosened up and realized that whilst they were together there were no barriers. Shepard wasn't Shepard; he was John; a twenty nine year old bloke who had troubles just like everybody else, and Jack and Andy weren't the god-like Biotics; they were just a young couple in love. Stereotypes disappeared and after the second week people had given up going back to their quarters and just crashed in Andy and Jack's room.

Jack had been damn nervous the first time she'd realized that she and Andy were the only ones still awake, and that waking their guests up would just be rude, but he'd managed to convice her that they could just sleep as they normally did and no comments would be made about it.

He was wrong, as Gabby had awoken them with a long, drawn out "Awwwwwwwwwwww! You two are soooooo cute together!", but that had only left Jack shellshocked for a moment, and rather than making her nervous or uncomfortable she had just blushed and snuggled further into her lover's side with a pleased smile on her face. Kar and Tali had become fast friends, and it wasn't hard to see that romance was quickly developing between the pair. They both had the same knack for engineering, and, after getting used to the idea of a civil unshackled AI, worked with both EDI and Izzy to advance the Combat Crew's armour and weapons with unique customisations that were solely for the use of the most trusted people on the Normandy SR-2.

Slowly Joker awoke; his loud yawn triggering the awakenings of the others, and everybody greeted each other with blurry, half-awake smiles as they streched out and meandered around the room talking about things of little consequence and drinking coffee or whatever they wanted. Jack walked across the room dressed in long-legged, crimson flanellette pyjamas and a white tank-top, and greeted Andy with a small smile and a peck to his lips. She had become far more comfortable showing affection with the accepting reactions of their new friends.

Slowly the others all trickled out, ready to start the day, and Jack and Andrew were left to dress and go about their morning rituals in peace. "You know what we're doing today?"

He turned his head over his shoulder and gave a shrug. "I think we're starting to work on people's loyalties actually," he mused, "because Shep said something about heading to Omega... and there's no reason to do that apart from killing Samara's daughter." Jack nodded in understanding, as, after completing the exercise to protect her from indoctrination or unwanted mind-melding, Andy had told her every single detail he knew about the future.

"So how's that going to work?"

He twiddled a kebab skewer from the night before in-between his fingers and gave a shrug. "Shepard took care of it in the game, but he's shown a balance between Paragon and Renegade... so he might not have the power to resist Morinth. I told him about that last night and he agreed that we'd best not risk it, so I'll probably go in and face her. With my power I know I can resist an Ardat-Yakshi, and hopefully restrain her to ask her some questions. Samara just killed her the last time, but I'd like to know what makes her tick... something always seemed... off about her in the game."

"Hopefully restrain her?" It was clear that Jack was uneasy about what he was suggesting, and he gave a nod.

"Well I've faced one before, but she was just beginning to explore her powers. Morinth has been at it for decades, so it will truly be a test. And besides, I faced one and beat her nearly four years ago. I've gotten far, far more proficient and stronger since then."

She nodded reluctantly, but before she could say anything Joker's voice interrupted them. "Hey Kronos, the Commander wants you dressed to kill and by the airlock in half an hour."

"Got it Joker, tell him I'll be there." Recieving a confirmation he turned back to Jack with a small smile. "Just enough time for breakfast," he commented, and she nodded uneasily as he changed into his smartest clothes; a black silk dress shirt, leather loafers, and a pair of black, ballistic weave pants that looked almost identical to Jeans, but with the added armour capabilities.

"Promise me you'll come back okay," she ordered, and he gave her an understanding smile and nod.

"I promise."

The two went through breakfast in the mess silently, and Jack watched the small piece of Element Zero they always kept on their table in the center of the room shrink to about half the size when they returned to their room. Both of them could pull it from the air if need be, but doing so could hurt living organisms - especially if another biotic was nearby. Sighing as he felt power rush into him Andy gave a nod to himself and then grabbed his jacket before walking over to Jack and pressing a deep kiss to her lips. She kissed him just as powerfully back, and then broke away; staring into his eyes. "Come back to me... love."

Kissing her on the forehead with a smile he nodded. "I will. I should be back in an hour or two at the latest." She nodded with a worried smile and saw him off at the door; not wanting to follow him to the airlock where she knew her feelings of concern would be multiplied tenfold. Andy quickly made his way to the airlock where Shepard and Samara were waiting for him, and he noted that the Asari Justicar looked far less than hospitiable when she caught sight of him. "Everything alright here?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow, and Shepard gave a sigh when Samara jerked her head away so she didn't have to look at him.

"Samara wants me to do this," he explained, "because she doesn't think you're strong enough to face Morinth."

Raising an eyebrow he turned his head slowly to face the Justicar. "Samara... you've never seen me in a battle, have you?"

She looked into his eyes with a small glare; examining him as if he was an insect. "You do not understand," she almost growled, "Morinth is not a normal Asari that you can simply blast out of the way; she is an Ardat-Yakshi - one of the most powerful biotic creatures in this universe. She will meld with you and suck you dry until you are simply a breathing husk of the person you are at this moment."

Blinking a couple of times Andy stepped into the airlock and waited for the other two to join him; he knew now why he hadn't taken time out of his schedule to visit the Asari; she seemed to have a rather annoying superiority complex... that he hadn't really seen within the game. Shepard walked in beside him first, and Samara reluctantly followed. When they stepped out of the ship Samara was surprised when Shepard allowed Andrew to lead the way, and raised an eyebrow at him. Chuckling, the Commander of the Normandy pointed at Andy's back as he walked forwards with assured, confident steps. "He knows things. Chances are he already knows all about Morinth; about her being your daughter, about who her latest target was, about where to find her, about how to gain her attention... everything."

"I have only told you about her relation to me," she protested, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"Your daughter was forty years old when she was offered the choice along with your two other daughters; also Ardat-Yakshi. She was addicted to melding however; the high she gained off murdering her victims; sucking out every last piece of their essence, and so ran. When she ran you decided to become an Asari Justicar; devoting your life to hunting her down." He ignored her shocked look and continued his commentary as they walked towards the Apartment Complexes. "On Scarva, four hundred years after her escape from you, she had enthralled an entire village and upon seeing you ordered them to attack. You, against your better judgement, fought your way through the swarm of worshippers in the hope that you would reach Morinth before she escaped. You were unsuccessful, however still managed to track her down to Illium recently whereupon you met Shepard." He gave her a small shrug and smile. "The rest, as they say, is history."

"H-how can you know all that? I made sure it was classified!"

He grinned and tapped the side of his nose; a gesture that Shepard had become intimately acquainted with, as had the rest of the crew, before turning forwards and stopping outside an apartment door. Shepard and Samara stopped behind him, looking confused, and Andy pressed the holographic panel to ring the buzzer inside. A second later a face appeared; projected in front of him, and he pulled off his hood and gave the elderly woman a small, but sad smile. "We're here about your daughter, Nef, Missus Chunhua."

The door immediately opened and the woman herself was stood directly in front of them looking sadly expectant. "What do you know about my dear Nef?"

"May we come in?" Andy asked kindly, "it is not something that should be discussed in public."

They all found themselves quickly bidded entry, and the door locked behind them. "What do you know?"

The desperation in her voice tugged at all their heartstrings, and he nodded before sitting down on one of the chairs and giving a sigh. "My name is Andrew Kronos, I'm sure you've heard of me."

The woman's eyes widened, "You're the one that defeated all the Mercenaries in Omega!"

Ignoring the exasperated sigh and rolling eyes from Shepard, and the shocked look from the Justicar, he nodded. "Yes, I am. I work alongside Aria, as she's struggling to keep this place in line as it is. You see, Missus Chunhua, your daughter Nef didn't die; she was killed."

The woman gave a small sob and nodded before whispering, "I knew it; I knew that my dear Nef hadn't died even though they all said it was just an accident."

He gave a sad nod and leant across to lay his hand over hers, and she looked up; wiping her tears away with her free hand before nodding thankfully at him. Sitting back after she had gathered herself Andy explained. "Your daughter was the victim of an Asari called Morinth." Samara froze in her inspection of the room, her suspicions finally confirmed, and Andy flicked her a look that said 'I told you so'. "She is an Ardat-Yakshi which means that she was born with a rare genetic deformity that causes her to kill anybody she melds with; literally _eating_ their entire being and leaving just an empty shell in their place. I wanted to come here and tell you that within the next few hours we will have captured your daughter's murderer, and she will be brought to justice."

The woman burst into tears and leapt across the gap separating them, and Andy gave a sad smile before hugging her back as she mumbled thank yous into his shoulder. It took several minutes for her to pull back, and she apolgised when she saw the wet stain on his shoulder. He waved her off with a small smile. "It's no problem," he assured her, "it'll dry off in no time."

He stood from his chair and gave a small bow while withdrawing a small card from his breast pocket and holding it out to her with both hands. She looked shocked at him observing the old traditions, and by now they weren't just old but rather ancient, before smiling and bowing herself before taking his card with an equal bow, scrutinising it for several very long seconds, and then pocketing it. "Even most people on Earth don't follow tradition now," she commented, and he nodded with a smile.

"And it is people like you and I who will keep it continuing."

Despite the fact that he was far younger than she was she gave an approving nod and bade them a respectful goodbye; bowing at the waist as the door hissed closed behind them. "What was that?"

Turning to face Shepard he gave a smile. "Ancient Japanese tradition," he explained. "I didn't know if she'd remember it, but it seems like I made a good impression, which is always good. Hopefully now she can get some closure with her daughter's death."

"...You are not what I expected."

Andy turned his head over his shoulder as he walked; a slightly irritated expression on his face. "No, I'm not, and you would've known that sooner if you'd not had that huge fucking pole stuck up your arse." Shepard gave a loud sigh at the language, while Samara looked as if she had been physically slapped. "Don't go by people's looks, Justicar Samara," he remanded wisely, "it will be the end of you, just as it is the end for the victims of your daughter who think Morinth is a beautiful, seductive, and innocent woman."

That really struck chords, and the Asari was silent for the rest of their journey. Andy stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the entrance of the Afterlife VIP area, causing his two companions to stop to avoid bumping into him. Jerking his finger towards the door at the top he gave a nod. "She's in there," he explained, "and before I go in and lure her I want to make several things very, very clear." He turned to Samara with a small glower, and she raised an eyebrow at his daring; not many Asari, let alone humans, dared look at her in such a way for fear of being eliminated. "She may be your daughter, and you may want to take out your... rather permanent brand of justice on her as soon as you can, but I'm investing a lot in this too, so I deserve a say in what happens. I'm going to go in there, lure her in, get her interested, and then see if I can get back to her place where she will inevitably attempt to go at me. You will not enter the apartment-"

"She must be eliminated!" interrupted the Justicar, and found herself shocked when Andrew flared a deep blue and a pressure surrounded her from all sides; preventing her from speaking. She was even more shocked when all her attempts to escape his biotic prison were rebuffed completely without his expression even twinging with effort.

"As I said before, had you actually paid more attention to your surroundings and asked around about myself or Jack, you would've found out that we are not your normal humans, nor biotics. You will stay outside the apartment until I say so, and only then will you come in. She will be the ultimate test of my powers, and I intend to try and find out just what the taint I have felt before in an Ardat-Yakshi truly is." He was lying about that last bit, but she didn't need to know that, and if Samara was shocked that she was being restrained, she was absoulutely floored at the fact that he had supposedly faced one of the most dangerous Asari in the Universe and lived. Andy turned to Shepard and raised an eyebrow, and he gave a small nod and a sigh. "I'll keep her in line," he assured the young merc, "though I really hope what you do doesn't screw up the whole oath thing she made to me - because I'll be the one living with the consequences when she's released from it."

Nodding his understanding Andy gave a nod before making his way up the stairs, calling over his shoulder, "It won't Shep, I promise you that."

Reaching the door he was stopped by the bouncer, however after dropping his cover name that Aria had provided him with a couple of weeks earlier he was quickly waved through by the stuttering and wide-eyed turian. He wrinkled his nose up in slight disgust when he smelt the body odour permiating the club when he entered, and quickly brushed off the junkie by the door that was murmuring about Expel 10 - he wanted to come off as classy, and associating with the doped up teen wasn't about to bring that image into being. Looking around he saw that no Asari dancer was getting hastled, and let out a sigh - not everything followed what the games had been like, and he'd been noticing that fact more and more as he'd been messing with the timeline.

He was just waiting for the big kahuna to hit whereupon his knowledge of the timeline would go to shit.

A quick check revealed that the bartender was different from the game, and was actually competent, and there were no trouble-makers around that he could see. After ordering a drink and looking around however, he found his eye drawn to something that was stashed behind the DJ's desk... something with a long handle, and a sleek, and very distinctive white body. Grinning like a madman he approached the human who was working the music and caught his attention with a wave. He leant down from his elevated position and Andy yelled up to him. "How in the hell did you get your hands on a Stratocaster?"

The burly African grinned down at him, revealing sharpened canines, and gave an approving nod. "Ah, finally somebody that knows what they're talking about!" he yelled over the din, "I brought it at a garage sale back on Earth a year ago. Only thing is that I can't play it for shit, and it's pretty old school now because of all this new trance shit they call music!"

Looking around Andy couldn't help but nod in agreement, and then turned back to the man with a wide grin. "You must be sick of this pounding rhythm! I'll make you a deal: you let me take a scan of that piece of art and I'll play a couple of songs that'll really get this club moving!"

"You know how to play?"

Nodding back with a grin, the African gave a whistle of approval, and then leaned down again. "You throw in some tutorial vids and you've got a deal!"

Holding out his hand Andy and the DJ shook on it, and the young merc found himself pulled up onto the platform where he quickly ran a scan over the instrument so that he could get it machined up at a later date, and then ran a program on his Omni-tool that would jack into the old fashioned 1/4 inch plughole and transmit digitally enhanced sound to whatever modern output device he wanted. He yelled up to the DJ who quickly gave him the codes to the audio system, and they discussed with hushed yells about what Andy was going to play, accompanying instuments, and what he wanted to be introduced as. As Andy ran a tuning program on the guitar the music in the club faded, and all attention turned to the DJ stand to see what was happening. Nicholas, as the DJ had introduced himself to Andrew, stood tall and grinned over the crowd. "Tonight we have the opportunity to taste some rare talent! The modern guitar is a human instrument that's been around for over 400 years, though it has been lost to the tides of time. Tonight we have a guest who knows how to play one, and as I just so happened to have one behind my desk we decided to give it a whirl! Without further ado, ladies and gents, Andrew Kruger!"

There was a smattering of applause, though nothing thunderous, and Andy stepped forwards; Stratocaster strapped over his front and a haptic microphone glowing by his mouth. "I know that this's a club more for dancing and all... but once in a while we just need to listen to something that actually means something." He nodded to Izzy who was being projected above the DJ table, and she nodded back before manipulating a 'synthesizer' to create the sounds of the intruments other that the guitar. A slow, gentle haze of sound floated through the room, and from that very moment people stood unwittingly transfixed. There was a power thrumming already; something that hinted at something above what moden music could bring them. It didn't need brain-manipulating soundwaves to convey the depth, it was simply there; laid bare. Thunder boomed, and then a daunting, fluctuatung warble entered. Nothing but the sounds being emmitted from the speakers around the room were present, and taking a deap breath Andrew stepped forward and played the first, skin-tingling melody.

It was enough to halt people's breaths.

Many of them had never before heard something so meaningful.

Closing his eyes and letting himself fall into he song Andew opened his mouth and began to sing.

_These mist covered mountains_

_Are a home now for me_

_But my home is the lowlands_

_And always will be_

_Some day youll return to_

_Your valleys and your farms_

_And you'll no longer burn_

_To be brothers in arms_

_Through these fields of destruction_

_Baptisms of fire_

_I've witnessed all your suffering_

_As the battles raged higher_

_And though they did hurt me so bad_

_In the fear and alarm_

_You did not desert me_

_My brothers in arms_

_Theres so many different worlds_

_So many differents suns_

_And we have just one world_

_But we live in different ones_

_Now the suns gone to hell_

_And the moons riding high_

_Let me bid you farewell_

_Every man has to die_

_But its written in the starlight_

_And every line on your palm_

_Were fools to make war_

_On our brothers in arms_

There was complete silence as he finished off the song with an almost silent chord, at least until one awe-filled Asari dancer begun clapping from beside her pole with an amazed expression on her face. The applause quickly picked up, and Andrew gave a small, warm smile as the room quickly decended into a crescendo of clapping and whistling. Nodding his thanks he waved their appreciation down and looked over the expectant faces. "That song was written in 1985, that's 200 years ago, by a band called Dire Straits. It's title is Brothers in Arms, and is meant as a sort of remebrance of the dead... at least that's what I think." He looked over at Izzy, who gave him a smile and mouthed something to him, and he gave a smile and a nod before turning back to the eager crowd. "Well it looks like my lovely assistant Izzy thinks we can manage one more song, so for something a little more upbeat!"

A cheer went up and Andy grinned before turning to Izzy, recieving a nod, and plucking the first few strings to start the song. "Keep you in the dark you know they all, pretend, keep you in the dark and so it all, began..." Grinning widely as Izzy cracked the drums into the song he tore into the chords that made the song grow in power.

_Send in your skeletons_

_Sing as their bones go marching in... again_

_The need you buried deep_

_The secrets that you keep are ever ready_

_Are you ready?_

_I'm finished making sense_

_Done pleading ignorance_

_That whole defense_

_Spinning infinity, boy_

_The wheel is spinning me_

_It's never-ending, never-ending_

_Same old story_

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

Andy grinned as he saw the patrons of VIP Afterlife grow accustomed to the new beat and begin dancing, and blasted out the next verse; his eyes dancing with enjoyment and life. He hadn't had so much fun in ages.

_In time or so I'm told_

_I'm just another soul for sale... oh, well_

_The page is out of print_

_We are not permanent_

_We're temporary, temporary_

_Same old story_

_I'm the voice inside your head_

_You refuse to hear_

_I'm the face that you have to face_

_Mirrored in your stare_

_I'm what's left, I'm what's right_

_I'm the enemy_

_I'm the hand that will take you down_

_Bring you to your knees_

_So who are you?_

_Yeah, who are you?_

_Yeah, who are you?_

_Yeah, who are you?_

_Keep you in the dark_

_You know they all pretend_

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

He grinned as the next part started, and noticed with wide eyes and a gleaming smile that the echoes that accompanied his words was a harmony between Izzy singing and own vocals that she had obviously recorded earlier in the song.

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_(Keep you in the dark)_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_(You know they all... pretend)_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

_What if I say I'm not like the others?_

_(Keep you in the dark)_

_What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_

_(You know they all... pretend)_

_You're the pretender_

_What if I say I will never surrender?_

_So who are you?_

_Yeah, who are you?_

_Yeah, who are you?_

He finished off with a slamming chord that reverberated around the club like a wave of energy, and after a second's pause a roar of approval came from his sweating but happily tired crowd. "Thanks for being such a great crowd!" he yelled, and a roar of applause met his words yet again, "and that last song was written by the Foo Fighters, titled The Pretender! Have a great night!" He gave a wide smile and nodded to a few patrons that were particularly appreciative; it seemed that nobody was used to the hard, fast music that he liked - if they were tired from just dancing to that song he'd hate to see them at a concert back on Earth... a hundred and fifty'ish years ago. Handing the guitar back to a beaming and widely smiling DJ he shook the man's hand, transferred the vids he'd learned from to Nicholas, and then walked down towards the bar as the music settled back into the dreary, repetitive club beat that was so prevalent in virtually all the clubs he'd been to in the 'verse. People clapped him on the back with wide smiles and thanks for his performance as he made his way to get a drink, and the bartender gave him two on the house; apparently he was very happy that the customers were sweating buckets - he'd had a booming business so far.

"Hey there, I'm Morinth."

He had to force himself not to tense at the silky voice that seemed to be swathed in sensuality and demanded trust, and after taking a small breath to gather himself he turned with a smile to the Asari who had addressed him. He found himself almost repulsed. Her entire outfit was sleek and dark and positively screamed danger, but it was her face, and above all her eyes, that made him wonder just how anybody could fall for her 'charms'. Her skin held a pallid taint to it that made her seem almost sickly in comparison to the beautifully blue Asari dancers that surrounded them, and her eyes were that of the deepest obsidian; like black holes; ready to devour anything that came within their reach. When he felt the compulsion against his mental shields he understood.

The creature in front of him truly looked like this, and he was probably one of the very first to see her in such a way; her compulsion having no effect, and his immensely poweful and all-consming biotics allowing him to look past the aura she projected around herself.

He had to force himself to seem polite and friendly, when all he wanted to do was to run back to the Normandy and wash himself twice, thrice, perhaps even more than that, to cleanse himself of the taint he could feel trying to seep into him. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to forget the feeling in Jack's arms, and for once draw comfort from her instead of the other way around. Smiling in what he hoped was a genuine manner, and projecting an aura of his own to try and sway it towards seeming friendlier than it was, he nodded in greeting. "Hey. Enjoy the show?"

She gave a wide smile filled with predatory undertones and he stifled a shudder. "I loved it. I'm normally a fan of sensory bands like... hmmm, Expel 10. Have you ever heard of them?" He gave a nod, and she continued with her smile widening; baring her perfectly white teeth. They weren't teeth of a cannibal; those were present within her mind. "Normally I'm a fan of them... but that first song you played just... touched my soul, you know?"

_'I bet it did you little murderer,'_ he scowled in his mind, but plastered a small smile on his face all the same. It was all he could manage without it turning into a grimace. "As I said after I played it, it's a song that just seems to demand that one listens; stops whatever they're doing and just absorb it." Motioning around at the club he gave a shrug, "These people seemed like they could use something different. I've been to a lot of clubs in my life, and this music; a repetitive beat, seems to be the norm. After a while it worms its way into your consciousness and starts to piss you off. These people come here to lose themselves... they need to stop, take a look at themselves, and actually think."

She gave him an approving smile and leant over to lay her hand over his. He twitched. "That's really deep. You seem to be the most interesting person here. How long are you on Omega for?"

He gave a small chuckle and went for his drink while tipping the bartender at the same time to get his hand out from underneath hers without arousing suspicion. "My ride leaves in around twenty hours and then I'm outa' here. To be honest this place is a little tame to what I'm used to - danger somewhere else in the Galaxy's a calling, so I'll go wherever I can see something worth seeing."

"Mmmm," she hummed seductively, leaning her head on her hand and staring at him with interest, "dangerous places are always the best," she commented.

He gave a wide smile back, genuine this time, as he thought back to Purgatory. "Yeah... and causing trouble's always... interesting; seeing the aftermath. Nothing is as pure as chaos." He was whistling dixie out his ass, but he thought it sounded pretty badass, and judging by the carnivorous smile that Morinth was sending him she thought so too. "Ever knocked over a prison ship?" he asked with a smirk, and her eyes widened before narrowing with a hungry expression burning deep in their black depths. "The pandemonium is almost intoxicating; the prisoners all running free and overrunning the guards with a ferocity most couldn't even fathom; finally having the chance to get back at their captors." He could see her teetering at the peak of deciding whether to take him then and dropped the bombshell. With his smirk widening and turning feral, a look he and Jack shared when executing plans or looking at an opportunity to sate their bloodlust, he leaned forwards. "Heard of the Prison Ship Purgatory?"

The look in her eyes flared with recognition and then a solidified decision, and his smirk widened. She didn't even know that it was aimed at her.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"What'd you say to going back to my place?" she asked, excitement tainting her voice. "It's a little more... private than here, and I want you to myself."

Nodding his assent with a grin they both stood, tipping the bartender as they left. Andrew followed the Ardat-Yakshi out of the club; catching sight of a concealed Samara and Shepard in his peripheral vision. He knew that Morinth would have missed them, as she was too focussed on dragging him to her apartment where she could devour his mind, and he signalled that he was okay to the hidden pair before turning the corner. He found himself being tugged along quite insistently and raised an eyebrow as he let himself be led. She hadn't seem this eager in the game, but then again he _had_ put on quite a show... and she was known to love intelligent and artfully talented minds. He didn't consider himself a master on the guitar, but he was a fair way above what his old school's band was pulling out. He brought himself out of his reminicing, wondering whether or not he should surprise Jack by revealing his secret skill when he got back, when they arrived at Morinth's apartment, and he shook his head in despair. She clearly took it as awe as a huge grin snaked over her lips, but in truth the blonde mercenary was wondering if it was something out of the Evil Murderer's Catalogue. The outside was jet black in colour; in harsh contrast to all the other buildings surrounding it, and the sharp angular architecture seemed to radiate a sinister atmosphere.

As he was dragged in the door Andrew idly noted that the security system was top-of-the-line... something that hadn't happened in the game as Samara had seemed to get access without much trouble. He supposed that she had made such an effort with the systems to avoid getting attacked and blown to shit by the Omega Peacekeeper... as they were now calling him. He found it ironic that she'd invited the only person she really wanted to keep out of her pad _into_ it. She pulled him over to the couch and he raised his eyebrows. _'No fucking around this time,'_ he observed, as she hadn't given him the time to explore her apartment as she had with Shepard. "Want some Hallex?" she asked suggestively, her voice attempting to stimulate his brain's safety and acceptance centers, and he gave a nod and a smile. She handed him two pills, notably not taking anything herself, and he slugged them back before assigning his biotics the task of isolating them from his system and breaking the chemicals inside down to safe, base elements. Within seconds he felt his biotics receed, their job done, and he watched Morinth lean closer with an almost giddy smirk of superiority and expectation. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

Andrew did the same; reinforcing his mental protections with his biotics, and then she opened her eyes. They were completely black and devoid of any reflections, as if they were sucking in all the light that bounced onto them, and her aura came into the visible spectrum; softening the look of her skin and giving her entire body a dreamy appearance. "Embrace Eternity."

He waited for a few seconds, waiting for the brutal onslaught that he had experienced the last time he'd faced an Ardat-Yakshi, and then he felt it. His eyebrows shot way up into his hairline at the feel of power her intrusion was bringing to bare on his shields. The strength of her attack on his mind at put him into a state of shock... and after a few moments awe.

It felt like a pixie slamming cotton balls against the granite dome that was his mind.

Clearing his throat loudly to get a reaction from the woman he cocked his head to the side. "Doesn't seem to be working... I'd quite like to Embrace Eternity with you though, so perhaps you could try harder?" That got a frown of confusion and frustration from the soul-sucking force looking into his eyes, and a moment later the pixie advanced to padded boxing gloves. "Still not feeling it," he admitted after a few seconds, and her brow furrowed as her fists clenched on her knees. Shaking his head with wide eyes he looked at Morinth with silent amusement, _'And there comes the cavalry... what the hell is this? Pixies vs. a fucking legion of demons?'_ . He set his biotics to offensive, and a moment later Morinth jerked back with a scream of pain as she clutched at her head; blue blood seeping out of her ears, nose, and eyes. "Well fuck me sideways," Andy murmured in surprise, and he watched the Asari curl tighter into a foetal position on the floor; her face twisted into an expression of furious agony.

Seeing that she wasn't going anywhere he walked over to her bar and watched her slowly recover as he sipped on a glass of delightfully ice-cold water. She'd dragged him off before he could really start replenishing the liquid he'd lost by sweating on stage. After nearly five minutes, and the same number of glasses of water later, the Asari stumbled to her feet before wobbling unsteadily as she glared across at him; all vestiges of civility and charm gone from her expression. "Who the hell are you?"

Remembering a line from a movie he'd seen he sent her a grin. "A concerned citizen."

"What did you do to me?" she winced as she clutched at her head again; her body shaking slightly, and he sent her an unnerving smile.

"Well you tried to meld, and I didn't want you to, so I just rebuffed you until I decided to turn my mental defences against you. That counter-attack, my dear Ardat-Yakshi," he watched her eyes widen in shock, and then narrow in fury, "was what I did to you."

He couldn't help but smirk wider.

"Impossible," she ground out, and then lifted her hands up with a jerk; her eyes filled with fury and humiliation. A huge wave of biotic power blasted its way towards Andy, and he raised an eyebrow before raising the hand that wasn't holding the glass of water and stopping it easily. Her eyes widened at the action, but then slitted with determination as she pushed all of her energy into the attack. Andy did have to put his glass down when she did that, and raised both of his hands to repel the huge forces that were barraging against his counter. It wasn't that it was a huge challenge; rather he would've spilled the water all over his shirt because of the vibrations that were being transferred into his body from the attack.

He was honestly surprised.

An Ardat-Yakshi was just below most Matriarchs in strength, and repelling Morinth's power was as easy as walking around in heavy armour. There was a slight strain, like one would feel while playing a game of tennis, but that was something Andrew could easily do with his physique. As he held Morinth at bay he realized that Jack was the only person he knew that could actually give him a challenge anymore. He fired off a singularity into the mix, and the sudden gravitational pull caught Morinth off-guard. Her eyes widened as she was jerked towards the small, black ball hovering in-between them, and she quickly forced a throw onto herself; blasting across the room and into the window with a sickening crunch. She collapsed to her knees; coughing up blue blood, and Andrew looked at her with something akin to pity. "I just don't understand," he admitted to her over the sounds of her coughs and groans, "I mean, is sucking somebody's being from their very body such a pleasurable experience that you can't stop? Your sisters took the choice to reside in peace and luxury, isolated from the rest of the galaxy for both their and its safety, and the only reason they knew they were Ardat-Yakshi was because they had also torn a soul from another... but they weren't addicted." He sat on a bar stool as she glared up at him from the floor and cocked his head to the side. "I know for a fact that all three of you had realized what you were at the same time; at the Releasing Ceremony at your Chapel to the Goddess on Thessia... and you were given the choice that very night." He was paraphrasing information he'd pulled from the Shadow Broker System, and the fact that he knew everything seemed to shock her enough that her glare subsided for a moment. "You didn't have time to 'get addicted' from the first meld until you were given the choice, as you were isolated until they decided to offer all three of you the option of going into isolation... which begs the question, just why in the hell did you run?"

She glared defiantly back at him, but after a moment he saw a flicker behind her eyes; an emotion that he hadn't expected in a million years to come from her.

Helplessness.

The defiance was still present on her face, as was the anger and sneer, but there was something being hidden, and Andrew wanted to know just what that was. His unparalleled control over his biotics gave him the option to get that information. He stepped forwards and raised his hands, and Morinth floated upwards; her eyes widening as she realized the danger she was in. Her eyes lit up with energy, and Andrew felt a veritable tsunami of power race outwards from her, its only possible target being him. He quashed the danger with a pulse of his own biotics; disrupting her assault to the point where it destabalized and faded into obscurity, and then encased her within a nullifying field of his own recent design. Her expression turned panicked when she realized that her biotics were failing to respond to her commands, but before she could voice any words she found herself looking into the deep, ice-blue eyes of her captor. For the first time in her life she found herself entranced. His iris colour seemed to deepen in front of her very eyes, and she slowly felt herself falling into them; surrounded by a nimbus of swathing warmth and reassurance.

In the few minutes after her trying to meld with him, Andrew had reverse-engineered the Ardat-Yakshi's technique, and now found himself experiencing what she did when she attacked her victims. The way his biotics were moulded they cried out to be fed by her soul, and Andy had to keep it firmly in check - he hadn't had time to suppress the hunger in the attack before using it. Memories flooded his mind in droves, and had he been able to see himself in the outside world he would have been amazed. Morinth was surrounded by the skin-tight halo of his suppression field; her head tilted back and her eyes completely black and filled with awe, but it was Andrew that was the most shocking. Shepard and Samara crashed into the apartment having felt the sudden flood of energy and stopped in their tracks with slack jaws and wide eyes when they beheld the happening in front of them.

Andy was covered in what looked like living shadows that flowed fluidly over his entire being, though flecks of gold interspersed the darkness. His own gaze was fixed on Morinth; his entire eye a luminous blue. Tendrils of gold-flecked shadow bridged the gap between him and the Ardat-Yakshi, and seemed to enter Morinth's chest continuously. Inside their meld Andrew was pushing deeper and deeper into Morinth's soul, finally grasping the concept of the meld enough that he could skim over the memories in some sort of search pattern. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew that something was wrong when he felt his intrusion being redirected to a different part of Morinth's soul. This, of course, only made him push harder towards the source of the manupulation, and he quickly felt a dark, ancient taint swarm at him. Quickly reinforcing himself with his biotics he forced his shielding outwards to swathe and protect the untainted portions of Morinth's soul, and then the two forces clashed. Shepard and Samara were blown off their feet and slammed brutally into the wall of the apartment, and watched through disorientated eyes as the Ardat-Yakshi was suddenly covered in a shimmering haze of red; Andrew's nullification shield being disintegrated by the force of its appearance. The new energy immediately lashed out at the shadow-cloaked mercenary, but was rebuffed by a wall of pitch darkness that seemed to swallow it and then grow from the energy it had absorbed before sinking back into the skin of Andrew.

Andrew could literally see the adulteration, and forced his power against its own. He could feel the strain steadily rising, and although he couldn't feel it, submerged in the meld as he was, around him and Morinth a violent, razor-sharp wind was buffeting. Shepard dragged Samara behind cover once he felt the sharpness of the charged air slice a cut into his cheek, and the two watched as the energy emmitting from the two battling biotics increased to unfathomable level; suffocating in its intensity. Shepard pulled the paralysed Samara further away from the pair so that they could breathe once more, though only just, and pulled a table over so that they were protected. Concrete and metal was tearing itself off the foundations, and within the corona the pair were blasting outwards things were simply being atomised by the pressure, heat, and sheer energy that was broiling off of them in waves.

Andrew could see the form of the poison reaping the Asari's mind clarify, and his words to describe what it was doing were entirely appropriate. "Worthless human," came a synthetic rumble, and the form finally solidified in front of him; bathed in crimson energy in contrast to his pure black.

"You've got to be kidding me," he grunted as he fought against the Reaper imprint, and the squid-like construct pushed harder against his power. Andy quickly released the limiters he kept on his power, and outside of their joined minds the region of decimation burst outwards; flooring getting torn up and floating as if in reduced gravity before turning a bright white and disintegrating. The roof of the apartment suddenly collapsed above the pair, but got caught up in the whirlwind of biotics before it could cause the two any damage; quickly eaten away by the dark energy at play. "Useless?" he ground out at the Reaper with a sadistic smirk, "That's funny, because I seem to be closing in on you now."

"You are weak," droned the deep rumbling voice, "before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

"Well that sounds familiar," Andy snarled as he pushed even harder against the construct's shields, causing them to bow inwards with the strain, "it seems like you, as a race, are wholly unoriginal too. Nazara said the same as you did, and yet found itself destroyed."

"We will destroy you," came the dark reply, and Andy smirked when he heard the anger thrumming in its tone. The pressure and power increased, and Samara grabbed Shepard before blowing away a small portion of wall behind them and dragging him out of it; gently floating them down to the ground two storeys below where they quickly retreated to the other side of the street where spectators were gathering to watch the maelstrom of black and crimson dance lethally with each other. Andy could feel his owns shields straining against the attack on him and took a risk; dropping them for a second and instead sharpening his biotics to pierce the shields of his opponent. The Reaper screamed with a mechanical screech as it was speared on Andy's blade of energy, and its voice increased in pitch.

The spectators of the battle all slammed their hands over their ears as the sound reached them; wincing as it seemed to rip their thoughts to shreds, and then they all watched in shock as, for a moment, a huge, hundred-meter tall wraith flickered into existence before being torn asunder by glittering black blades of energy. The Reaper froze for a second before giving one last dying screech that knocked everybody back with the force, and then everything stopped. The dark energy dissappeared as if it had never existed, and all that was left was complete and utter silence. People on the upper storeys of the apartment sect stared in awe and confusion, and even the machinery had seemed to silence itself. It took a couple of seconds, but Shepard suddenly surged forwards; running full-tilt towards the apartment, and Samara followed almost immediately after him. When they finally came out into the room where they had cowered mere minutes ago however, they stopped mid-step. The metal foundations that were laid bare were glowing red with heat, and electronics and wires sparked with dispering Dark Energy. It was the sight in the middle of the room that stopped them completely however. Morinth was crouched over Andy shaking him, terror on her face and in her eyes. "Wake up! Come on wake up! You can't die here, you... I have to thank you! Just wake up, please!" she begged, and after a couple of seconds Andy's eyes flickered before opening with a wince as he looked up at her.

"You catch the number of that fucking lorry?"

The black-clad Asari gave a yelp of joy before glomping him, and Andy looked over the woman's shoulder to see Samara about to step forwards. He waved her weakly off as he hugged the happy Ardat-Yakshi back, and the Justicar stopped with narrowed eyes. "Thank you," the woman hugging him muttered, and he gave a nod and a smile as he powerlessly hugged her back.

"No problem," he mumbled sleepily, and then sat up. Morinth helped him to his feet and helped him stay upright by lending him a shoulder to lean on, and the blonde merc looked at Shepard and Samara with a dry grin. "Well that was really something, huh?"

It was at that moment Morinth caught sight of her mother, and she stiffened before, with a burst of speed, launching herself at the Justicar. The Asari in question took it as an act of agression, and was just about to blast her daughter away with a powerful biotic push when she realised that Morinth wasn't displaying any signs of attacking whatsoever... and was in fact hugging her and crying whilst muttering endless apologies into her shoulder. She looked over to Shepard who had taken over Morinth's position in keeping Andrew standing with a helpless look in her eyes, and Andy gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "I'll explain once we find somewhere to sit down."

"Well I know just the place," a voice exclaimed from the door, and everybody turned to see Aria flanked by two Turian bodyguards. She looked around and gave a small whistle before sending Andy a small smirk. "Never seen you look so worn out," she admitted, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well it's not every day I get to kill a Reaper now, is it?"


	9. Mass Changes

**A/N: Well this'll be the last of the mass-updates, not as in Mass Effect, but rather as in a swarm of chapters. I hope you've enjoyed them all, so please review if you have a moment - it's all us authors get from writing on this site.**

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Shepard didn't even try and stall Andrew from getting his head onto a pillow. The blonde was literally asleep on his feet; Aria on one side keeping him up, and himself on the other. Andy didn't even have time to take in the fact that the apartment they were entering was absolutely massive, and luxurious to boot, before Aria was helping him into a bedroom and unbuttoning his suit. It fell off of him, lightening the load that was dragging him down, and not bothering to get into pyjamas he walked over to the bed and crashed onto it; asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

"How is he?" Shepard asked as Aria appeared back in the living room, and the uncrowned Queen of Omega sat down with a sigh.

"He's exhausted. I've never, ever seen him exhausted before; he's always had enough energy to get himself back to wherever he's sleeping on his own two feet."

"He did fight a Reaper," he reminded her, but she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response.

"Yeah, but he's also defeated fifty mercenaries singlehandedly in two hours where they had superior positions, munitions, and weapons, and he kept on going. I know because I watched it all on video before he wiped the archives so that the Blue Suns wouldn't know he'd done it."

Shepard sat down, sparing a glance over at Samara and Morinth who were talking quietly near the kitchen, and then shook his head. "I don't think you quite fathom just how incredibly powerful the Reapers are. I'm not surprised he's exhausted; the last time a Reaper was defeated it took one hundred human cruisers, fifty Turian dreadnaughts, ten Asari Command frigates, and the Destiny's Ascension to take it out. At the end of it there were over fifty thousand dead, and triple that injured." Aria's eyes were wide in shock and Shepard sent her a small grin. "So I think he deserves to be wiped out."

"Mmmm," the man grumbled as he woke up, and stifled a groan when he tried to move and felt his body protest. It took a couple of seconds, but the memories of just _why_ he was so sore quickly made themselves prominently present in the forefront of his mind. Before he could begin dissecting the meaning of it all he felt the familiar weight by his side and turned his head to see Jack sleeping; her hands bunching his singlet up into her fists, and fine, but clearly visible tear tracks down her cheeks. They were long dry, but the sight alone made his heart plummet, and he gently shook her. She stirred after a few more insistent shakes, until her eyes cracked open to look at him. They were bleary and unfocussed for a moment, but quickly snapped wide open and filled with awareness when she realized that he was awake. "You fucking idiot," she growled dangerously, and he held up his hands slightly.

"Whoa, you said come back to you. I did."

"No," she grumbled, though he could hear the raw relief in her voice, "I had to come to you, because you decided it'd be a fantastic idea to fight a mother fucking Reaper by yourself."

He gave a grimace. "Ah... so Shep told you that, did he?"

She sent him a withering glare, "'Course he did, if I didn't get the goddamn story I threatened to melt his balls off."

"Ah... that explains it then."

She didn't give him even a moment's reprieve. "Why the fuck would you do something so reckless? It's a goddamn Reaper for fuck's sake Andy! Like, a fucking kilometre high, and they've been wiping out entire universes for an eternity! What the fuck made you think you could kill it?"

He gave another sigh and pulled her closer, overpowering her attempts to keep out of his embrace until she finally surrendered. "I couldn't leave it there Jack," he explained softly. "It's Samara's daughter we're talking about here, and even though she was acting all tough and calm about killing Morinth... I could see that doing it would damage her for the rest of her life time. What Morinth's experienced will probably haunt her nightmares all the same." He looked down into her frustrated brown eyes and raised his brow. "If I was indoctrinated; possessed by a Reaper, would you try and save me?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that, huh?" she growled angrily; her eyes filled with an inner fire, "You think I'd walk away after all we've been through?"

He shook his head and stroked her cheek to calm her down, but she jerked her head away in annoyance. "Jack, it was too late by the time I realized what I was facing. She tried to meld, but I wanted to find out what made her feel odd, so I turned her technique around and used it on her. Before I knew it I was being redirected by something, and when I tried to force my way into the part that was sectioned off I found myself head to head with a Reaper. If I'd pulled out it probably would've taken complete control. It was a lose-lose situation Love; either way I would've had to fight it, and I took the safer option and didn't allow it to emerge."

She was silent for several very long moments; her eyes burning into his chest as she thought about what he had said, but after nearly a minute she gave a short, sharp nod before meeting his gaze again. "Fine, I forgive you... but please don't do something like that again." She all but begged the last part, and he gave her a sad shake of his head.

"I can't promise you such a thing Love. Chances are I'm going to have to do something like that again to kill the Reapers, and I'm not going to walk away."

She gave a sad nod and then buried her face into his shoulder; hugging herself willingly into him. "I- I don't like it... but I understand." He felt a wave of relief flood through him, and so nearly missed her next words. "So we need to train harder; faster... we need to be better so that next time we can face more than one of them before collapsing. We need to be the best."

"We?" He knew as soon as he opened his mouth that he'd made a mistake with the question, and so quickly waved it away with his hands as if to dispel his words. Her head came up all the same, her eyes telling him in no uncertain terms that he'd better not have actually meant to say that question, and he nodded. "Just slipped out," he murmured against the top of her head to escape her piercing gaze, "I know you'll be beside me until the end. Sorry for making it sound like I didn't trust you to be there or anything."

"But you don't _want_ me to be there."

It wasn't a question, but he replied anyway. "No, I don't. If I had my way I'd have you holed up safely in a bunker somewhere until it was all over, and if you had your way I'd be strapped down in the same bunker with a biotic nullifying field around the facility." She gave a small smile at the imagery and gave a nod of agreement, and he sighed with a small, defeated smile. "But neither of those things are going to happen, because we're both too bloody stubborn, so we'll have to meet in the middle and fight together and make sure the other doesn't get killed."

"Agreed."

They enjoyed the silence and comfort they were drawing from being together for several minutes before Andy spoke again. "So what's been happening?"

She shuffled across and bent her arm so she could rest her head on her hand while looking at him in the dim light and gave a shrug. "Not a lot. Shep gave me a call around ten hours ago," Andy's eyebrow rose at the figure, "and told me you were injured in a battle. 'Course I blasted the fuck here as soon as I could and asked him just what the fuck was happening, and he told me you'd gone toe-to-toe with a Reaper. If you'd been uninjured an awake at _that_ moment you'd soon've been really damn sore." He winced at the mental imagery, but she ignored his discomfort and carried on with her update. "So I checked in on you, and then Mordin showed up a few minutes later and gave you a once-over before declaring you severely fatigued. The rest of the ground team trickled in over the next few hours, and since Morinth's been sleeping as well nobody really knows what really happened. They're waiting for one of you two to explain." He gave a groan and sat up in the bed, revealing that he was wearing a clean pair of boxers and a new singlet, and Jack blushed before looking away when he sent her an inquisitively raised eyebrow. "I- I didn't look or anything, but you stunk... so Mordin gave you a sedative to keep you under and then had the shower run you through a full decontamination and cleansing cycle. I just stuck the new clothes on you by touch." She blushed a deep red when she realized what she'd said, and quickly stuttered, "B-b-but I didn't feel or t-touch anything like... well t-that or anything!"

He gave a small chuckle and pulled her head towards him so he could peck her forehead. "Even if you did, Jack, I really wouldn't mind." He slid off the bed and stretched, giving a small eep of pleasure as several vertebrae snapped back into alignment. He smiled over his shoulder to her when he saw his favourite slippers and fluffy dressing gown waiting for him. "You're amazing, you know that?" She blushed harder and he slipped into the garment, tying a small knot around his waist to conserve his modesty. "But really Jack, I trust you with everything - including my body. If you're ready to move forward in our relationship, then so be it, just make the move and I'll follow your lead." He missed the blush on her face as he was busy slipping his feet into his slippers, but saw her small smile and nod when he turned back around. When she saw that he was ready to go she quickly got changed into an almost matching ensemble, saves her gown was blue in comparison to his brown... interesting that, and followed him out of the room and into the hallway.

When they reached the living room Morinth was in the middle of explaining the entrapment within her own mind. "I thought that everything was completely natural; like it was all me. I didn't feel as if I was being manipulated, and I truly felt that ripping another's soul from them felt good... but after Andrew tore the Reaper-"

"Its name was Otrere," Andy interrupted, and all the heads in the room turned to look at him in surprise. He sent them a small smile as he walked over and took a seat, and waved Morinth down when she moved to stand. Jack quickly took residence at his side; her legs curling automatically up underneath her, almost like a cat, and she moulded herself to his torso.

"It's good to see you up and about," Shepard greeted with a warm nod and a smile, and Andy returned them both.

"Feels good to _be_ up and about. I've never felt so drained in my entire life, and it's something I hope I won't be feeling again."

"Andy," interrupted Samara; her tone noticeably warmer and more respectful than it had been at the beginning of the mission, "you just fought a Reaper... and killed it. Anybody would be wiped out if they were lucky enough to survive... which nobody would if they faced one on their own as you did."

There were nods of agreement all around, and Miranda put her glass down on the table before nodding with a small smile to him. "That's one less Reaper that can attack us, Andrew, and if I was my old self I would've put in a commendation for you to the Illusive Man. It'd be a bit ironic though; commending you for removing something that I still would've had stuck in my head."

Andy gave her a slightly humoured smile. "Yes, I suppose it would have been."

"You said its name was Oto-something?" questioned Shepard and Andy gave a serious nod as he leant forwards slightly.

"Right," he agreed, "Otrere."

Morinth nodded with a small frown. "The name does sound familiar. When you destroyed it however, I could look back and see the haze of manipulation that clouded my memories." She sent him a beaming smile, "Thank you again for saving me. Mother was telling me that she had planned to kill me... but you not only gave me back my life, but my free will as well."

He gave a small nod of acceptance. "It wasn't a problem; it was the right thing to do."

He received a respectful nod in return and knew that Morinth would be a fast and firm ally should he require one... ever. "You knew its name... how?"

He turned back to Shepard and gave a sigh. "Man you guys are gonna freak out on me, I just know it. Well I essentially copied Morinth's attack; an offensive, devouring meld, in order to get access to her mind. I faced down Otrere, and then pierced it with my biotics before allowing the hunger to focus itself on the Reaper. What essentially followed was me eating its very existence... and assimilating it into my own."

Five pistols immediately answered his confession, and he gave a dry chuckle, noting happily that Jack was still at his side and had her hands at the ready to project a shield over them both. "I told you you'd freak out, didn't I? See, as Morinth can probably confirm, when one absorbs the existence of the other it has no sentience. The effect of the meld strips consciousness and energy from what it takes, and then brings it into the devourer's mind in... well the best way to put it is a self-contained library." The guns lowered a fraction when Morinth nodded in agreement of Andy's explanation, and the young man continued. "So I can look through its memories, knowledge, all that, without being affected by it unless it's natural." Seeing confused looks he explained, "Like if I saw that the Reapers were actually the gate-keepers to heaven, and their 'wiping out' was actually to take us to a better place, I'd not see them as being evil any more. Likewise, if I saw them experimenting on live Protheans then I'd hate them even more... which unfortunately is the case." Miranda especially looked quite pale at the revelation. After realizing that she herself had been a human experiment, any news of live experimentation on sentient beings made her queasy. Knowing just how brutal and evil the Reapers were brought up mental images of live torture that made her feel ill. "I couldn't hope to hold all the knowledge and memories of Otrere, as the fucking thing is around five billion years old." Everybody boggled at the figure, and Andy sent them a wry smile. "Yeah, imagine my surprise when I happened across that titbit of information. Taking everything in would've killed me a thousand times over, so I set a search pattern. It's hard to explain," he interrupted before anybody could question how such a thing was possible, "so I won't even try. Suffice to say that I have such control over my biotics that I can do complex tasks like that." He brought up his Omni-tool and started a new entry in his dairy before sitting back. "No time like the present to make a list of what I know now though.

"I know names of all the Reapers up until six hundred years ago, whereupon Morinth was infected, as well as what each of them looks like; I know about their hierarchy and political system; I know of their weaponry capabilities and biotic powers, as well as attacks that I will attempt at a later date; and I know of the technological knowledge that they have gathered from all the races they have destroyed." His eyes glinted with wisdom and immeasurable knowledge, and he gave an almost awe-filled smile as he shook his head. "You can't even fathom some of the things I now know, and I will not reveal the majority of them yet - it isn't time." He gave a reassuring nod to Shepard as the man holstered his pistol, "But I would appreciate it if you allowed me access to the upgrade terminals on the ship with unlimited access. There are upgrades and requisition orders that I will need to place in order to make us battle-ready against the Reapers."

Shepard gave a nod after a second and begun tapping on his Omni-tool, and Tali voiced the next question. "What kind of technology are you talking about?"

He gave a wide grin and shrugged easily, "Well I suppose I can tell you a couple of things. The first is the core designs that the race that created the Mass Relays used in their ships." The Quarian's eyes widened under her mask, and Andy sent her a wide grin. Other people were openly gaping, and Andy gave a small chuckle to himself as he thought of all the other things he now knew how to build, maintain, upgrade, and use. He nodded to Shepard. "More to your interest would be the weapons I now know of. There was one race that existed three billion years ago called the... well I can't even pronounce their name, but when the Reapers came to wipe them out they managed to destroy five hundred of the Reaper fleet before being destroyed. Their heavy weaponry is... uncomprehendable, and their 'small arms' are simply out of this universe." He turned to Mordin and tapped the side of his nose with a smile. "I might have a couple of top secret projects for you to work on sometime soon Professor." The Salarian looked positively giddy at the concept, and Andy turned to his wife before leaning down with a small, soft smile and whispering beside her ear. "I know that you wanted one... to have a family." She tensed, and he gently squeezed her shoulder. "What they did to you... I can reverse it so that you can bear children again, my Love."

A gasp left her lips, and a second later he found himself pulled into a brutishly tight embrace that would've broken all his ribs had they not been reinforced. He gave a smile and patted her back as silent tears ran down her cheeks, and he shook his head whilst mouthing, "Private moment" to the rest of the crew to stem their curious expressions; it took a lot, a hell of a lot, to bring Jack to tears in front of people, let alone ones she hadn't yet accepted into her trusted clique, such as Miranda, Mordin, Aria, and Morinth. Finally Jack leant up and kissed his jaw softly, conveying just how much what he had told her meant to her, before excusing herself so she could calm down in private. Shepard was the one to start up the conversation again after she had left. "Well that's fantastic to know, and we'll drop into the Citadel to pick up all the supplies you need for your projects as soon as we're done here. The biggest question, however, still remains... and that's just why the hell they took possession of Morinth."

Andy gave a small smile and shook his head. "And therein lies the rub," he muttered before turning his head upwards and looking at the ceiling. "They had everything planned. Morinth was supposed to die in order to slowly devastate Samara, to the end that she would eventually turn against the Code and kill The Order as retribution against their rules forcing her to kill her daughter." Samara looked disbelieving, but Andrew fixed her with a stare as he shook his head. "You have no idea how killing her would have affected you in the long term, despite your wisdom and experience." Not waiting for an answer her turned his head towards Shepard and gave a humourless chuckle. "Their possessions were all scheduled to end today, so by now all those that were possessed in the same manner are continuing on with their lives none the wiser; their jobs in our eradication done. They had it all planned out perfectly."

"What happened?"

Andy gave a sharp bark of laughter that voiced a complete lack of mirth before fixing Aria with a small grimace. "I did. I was something they never expected, and I've changed everything. In a way it's good, because they are unaware of the changes I've made about to make an appearance and compound... but at the same time what I've just done, and what I now know... it's going to change everything. All that information I just knew, like who to talk to about Morinth, and where to go to find her... that's all gone now."

Miranda gave a small chuckle of amusement. "It sounds as if you knew the future or something."

His complete lack of laughter of returned amusement made her freeze, and her eyes widened. "I did," he confessed before standing, "but I don't anymore. Everything's changed, and now it is going to come down to adaptability and the ability to think on our feet. My warnings and pre-planned manoeuvres during missions will simply be guidelines from now on. I've changed the present too much for my visions of the future to be anywhere near accurate anymore."

"I find it incredible that you saw the future," admitted Miranda, "but can't you just see it again?"

He shook his head sadly. "One-time thing, I'm afraid. If anything we should be pretty safe because the Reapers have completely withdrawn from our galaxy now, and they have no way of monitoring us until they begin the war in earnest, apart from through the Collectors... and with the new tech I can re-create and merge we should be able to get through the missions ahead without any casualties, but when they arrive I have no idea what will happen." He turned to Shepard with a thoughtful gleam in his eye after a moment. "Shep, you should be getting a call from Admiral Hackett sometime soon, and he'll tell you to keep the mission he assigns completely secret, and to do it alone. Don't. Come to me the moment the call comes, and only go on that mission when I tell you to."

Shepard stared deep into his eyes for several seconds before nodding. "I'll trust your judgement on this one. If there's anything you need just tell me, okay? You're one of the biggest weapons we have against the Reapers if what you say is true."

Andy nodded and walked over to the door leading to the hallway, and turned a sleepy smile over his shoulder. "Well I'm still tired as hell, so I'm going back to bed. Oh, and would you make sure the fridge and stuff is stocked? When I wake up I'm going be hungry enough to eat a Thresher Maw." Not waiting around to see the reactions to his statement he stepped back into the hallway and walked leisurely back to where he had been sleeping - pushing open the door, and then finding himself confronted with a sight that made him freeze in his tracks, his eyes widen, and his eyes hurriedly transmitting the image into his memories, whereupon they were permanently inscribed; never to be forgotten.

Jack was standing with her back to him, completely naked. Spinning around and slamming his head into the wall in his shock he stuttered out a quick apology for coming in unannounced. Cursing himself for not being considerate enough he waited for her response, and after several seconds felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, you can turn around now."

He did so, and then blanched in surprise when he saw that she was still naked, though this time facing him and baring her front in its entirety. She gently moved forwards and hugged him, and his arms automatically encircled her protectively. "You're naked," he murmured, and she gave a small chuckle.

"Congratulations Fucker, you can see."

He sighed into her hair and then rested his chin on the place he had warmed with his breath. "I hope that you're not doing this out of a feeling of obligation Jack."

She chuckled again, and he looked down onto her face that was angled upwards with a small smile on her lips. His eyes flickered to where her heavily tattooed breasts were pressed against his dressing gown, but then moved back to her eyes almost immediately. "You'd push me away and refuse to do anything with me if it was," she commented, "so I've decided to give up trying. I'll let things happen if I feel comfortable with them... and I feel comfortable doing this." She gave a small chuckle as she laid her head against his chest once more. "It's... odd. Everything about what I'm feeling with you is odd... but this takes the cake so far." He cocked his head in a silent question, and despite not being able to see him she felt the movement and answered. "So many people've seen me naked... but you seeing me like this... it feels really weird. Normally I just wouldn't give a fuck, but with you I... I wonder if I'm pretty enough for you, or if my tits are too small, or... I'm nervous, and a little bit scared."

He nodded in understanding and gave a small chuckle. "I know just how you feel Jack. You know, although I'm not shaking at the knees right now, I'm pretty nervous too."

"Why?"

He gave a nervous hum. "Well you're naked... and you're holding me right now... and that's going to get quite a reaction from me."

It took a moment for Jack to realize what he was implying, and she blushed beet-red when she finally noticed something hard poking into her abdomen. "Oh," was all she said, a little too surprised to say anything more, and Andrew gave a lopsided grin down at her.

"Yeah... and it just seems unfair that I get to see all of you, and you don't get to see all of me... which means that in the next couple of minutes I'm going to be just as naked as you are. I'm just as nervous as you are. And for the record," he added with a small smile, "from what I caught a glimpse of... you're perfect. Your breasts aren't too small... and you've got a _really_ nice arse."

She grinned widely as she blushed, and gave a small laugh; the tension finally broken. "Thanks," she murmured before stepping back and letting his eyes roam freely over her body, and he sucked in a sharp breath. She truly was perfect in his eyes. Her frame was slim and athletic; her muscles small, but toned for maximum performance. She still held enough fat on her body to give a delightfully feminine figure, and yet also held features of a seasoned fighter. Her beautifully flat stomach hinted at the abs that lay beneath with small protrusions, and her hands were calloused; knuckles hardened from various battles. Scars littered her skin despite being masterfully hidden by tattoos, and the ink itself was spread over her entire body; only stopping just above her quim, and from what he could see half-way down her ass, before continuing down her legs, though lesser in number than on her torso. His suspicions were confirmed when she turned around and walked towards the bed, and he watched her entire body move with rapture. She finally slid underneath the sheets, beckoning him with a small expectant smile, and he took in a deep breath before dropping his gown to the floor, stepping out of his slippers and then pulling his boxers off. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing with approval, and Andrew found himself blushing for the first time in quite a while. He quickly made his way to the bed and slid in behind Jack, and she turned over so that she could look at him; the sheets falling just short of her breasts. "You're hot," she commented, and he blushed even harder, eliciting a laugh from his lover.

"Thanks," he muttered as he pulled her into a loose embrace, and both stiffened when they felt his penis slide in-between her legs; coming to rest right along her vagina. "Sorry," he apologised nervously, "I blame that on gravity and a number of other factors."

"S'alright," she mumbled back after a moment, slowly relaxing despite the fact that they were mere centimetres away from penetration, and after a few seconds snuggled deeper into his arms. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, relaxing even more when she felt him soften, and she smiled up at him. "Thanks."

"Bad mental images of Mordin and Grunt are my friend right now," he fired back, and she sent him a grimace with a long, drawn out, "Ewwwwwwww, did _not_ need to hear that Fucker. Shit, no wonder you're soft! I'm surprised your dick isn't curling up and wilting!"

This time it was his turn to laugh, and he relaxed completely; pulling her closer and focussing on their closeness rather than the sexuality of the situation. "Yeah, sorry about that. Your fault for being so goddamn beautiful though."

A small smile replaced the amused grimace, and she beamed into his chest at the compliment; a light crimson dusting her cheeks. "Long day."

"Sorry for not contacting you myself - I barely had enough strength to stop falling asleep let alone think of anything else."

She shook her head, her hair tickling his chest. "Not your fault, but next time we're fighting beside each other, 'kay?"

He gave a nod and a smile, "Agreed. 'Sides, I might just have a new toy for you and me to try out so long as you don't mind having an amp again."

She pulled back from his chest with a raised eyebrow. "An Amp? But you said we'd blow up if we used amps!"

"Ah, but I was talking about _normal_ amps," he grinned, "and the Protheans designed one for unleashed biotics like you and myself. They couldn't achieve what we did, but it was their hope that somebody could one day use it against the Reapers. Otrere absorbed the essence of the Protheans and found out what they had been planning, and so destroyed the entire research facility as well as all the ones the researchers stored their backups at."

"Why was it such a threat?"

He gave a small chuckle and a grin. "By absorbing Otrere, I absorbed all those that he had absorbed. I have the knowledge of the Prothean researchers that created the Amp, and from their calculations it would boost an unleashed biotic's potential by almost thirtyfold."

"Fuck... is that even possible? We'd be able to do like... anything! Seriously, it's a little too good to be true, don't ya think? You've got the whole invisibility, advanced healing, and all that jazz going on, and we're both unleashed Biotics... and now we're gonna get stronger?"

"We're going to _need_ to be stronger," he explained, "because the Reapers are going to target you and I specifically when they come here, because the Collectors are going to find out that we're a threat soon enough. Of course they'll know that Otrere is dead by now, but not that he's been absorbed... which is a very, very good thing." He shrugged, "To most we'll be godlike in power, but to the Reapers we'll be their equals. We're not tooling up to face this galaxy; we're tooling up to defeat the destroyers of galaxies."

She nodded after a second, looking a little daunted, and he squeezed her tighter with a small smile. "Cheer up Love, you and me to the galaxy and beyond, yeah?"

Jack was silent for several seconds before murmuring sleepily, "I watched Toy Story too."

Andy had the good grace to look sheepish before snuggling down and falling asleep by his lover's side.

* * *

Shepard had not been amused.

Their supply run to the Citadel, in his mind at least, should not have been synonymous with 'filling up half the cargo bay with purchases'.

Jack and Andy disagreed.

Andy was now three billion credits lighter, and only six million's worth was on the Normandy. The rest was scheduled for shipping to various places over the next three weeks. The money had come from Izzy, and Izzy had gotten said money by hacking the bank accounts of extremist organizations such as Cerberus, Terra Firma, and the Batarian slaver rings. The latter wasn't really extremist, but neither Andrew, Jack, Izzy, nor EDI agreed with their culture, and since it was those four that had organized the whole thing they stole their money anyways. Of course when Jack and Andrew explained to the slightly irritated Commander that a lot of that space would be cleared when they had replaced the ships armour, main guns, and shield generators he had relaxed. When Izzy had added that they had also included material to upgrade the medical bay and EDI's core the Commander had finally accepted the situation and bade them to hurry up with the upgrades so he could get some space back.

And so they had begun construction.

The first port of call was to create the advanced nanobots that the Xeon race had designed in cooperation with the Heliodroids to maintain themselves; being artificial intelligences and all. As soon as the first one was made, which took nearly one hundred attempts due to a lack of accurate equipment; it simply replicated itself to the number Andrew specified using base materials that he had provided. The lack of 'accurate tools' to create the new technology could have been misleading, as they had the best tools the galaxy had to offer at their disposal. The best in their galaxy, however, was not enough when it came down to some of the things they were to create. The creation of the nanobots allowed them to build a machine that had an accuracy nearly fifty times more precise than anything they currently had, and that allowed them to create the more advanced nanobots, which in turn allowed them to create more accurate tooling mechanisms. This cycle continued for nearly three weeks until they finally achieved the final version of the nanotechnology. By destroying all the now-outdated nanobots and tooling rigs the newest 'strain' of technology cloned itself until they were nearly fifty trillion in number.

And the entirety of the colony could fit inside Andrew and Jack's room; filling it from floor to ceiling.

Of course that just wasn't a feasible place for them to reside, and so Jack suggested that Andy make them line the cargo bay until they were needed. It turned out that that was a fantastic idea, and now the entire room had a brand new, metallic sheen to it. What none of the crew realized however, was that that 'metallic sheen' was actually alive. With the new technology in place the truly revolutionary and exciting construction projects could be undertaken, the first of which was the Morphic Armour. It required ten billion nanobots to create one suit, however they were packed to such a density that the resulting creation was as thin as a piece of silk. Consequently it also weighed close to one kilogram; nearly fifteen lighter than the 'normal' medium armour that most people used in the Universe. Using a programming algorithm the nanobots were essentially a morphological, regenerating suit of armour. Shepard had walked in on Jack shooting Andy with the most powerful sniper-rifle in their arsenal while the man himself was dressed in a mere singlet and track pants, and had been set to shoot her himself for murder when the mercenary had simply stumbled when the round slammed into him. Shepard had watched in amazement as a series of ripples spread out over the singlet, almost as if a pebble had been cast into water, and the small hole that had appeared in the very centre quickly close up.

And that was when the armour was set to stealth mode.

In battle mode it weighed the exact same, but covered the entire body with latticed, flexible armour plating a centimetre thick. As soon as a round even touched it the momentum of the bullet was spread out over the entire suit and then transferred into the ground beneath the wearer if the medium was suitable. When being constantly fired upon, the resultant momentum displacement was enough to allow the wearer literally run up walls. Garrus had taken great pleasure in recruiting Shepard and Jacob at one point, and as all three were shooting off Widow Sniper rifles Andy had been stuck to the ground for half an hour as he tried to blast the three troublemakers with his biotics. The nanobots that were destroyed at the impact zone of the round were simply replaced by assimilating the round's mass and elements into the suit and creating new ones.

The result was a suit that acted like a fluid when needed, could be carried in a canister the size of a grenade, and could be worn... everywhere. Clothing was no longer needed; the nanobots could simply arrange themselves to look and feel like virtually any outfit the wearer wished, with the added benefit of being stronger than the best medium armour on the market, and in battle it was nearly twenty times more shielding than the newest experimental heavy armour... but didn't restrain flexibility in the slightest, and had climatic equalization features that kept the wearer at a constant, comfortable operating temperature. The nanobots themselves actually utilized the body heat of their user to power themselves, and only used their Eezo cores if in a situation where full protection was needed.

Only the ground team knew about and were outfitted with the suits, but considering that all the floors in the Normandy were now covered in a centimetre-thick layer of nanobots if the ship ever came under attack they could move to protect the rest of the crew.

The next upgrade required the full use of the new, most accurate nanobots created. When Andrew truly got into the specifics of creating the technology Jack simply enjoyed watching him work. She wasn't insulted or put off by being the ignorant one; she could still best him in hand-to-hand combat if biotics were banned, despite his upgrades, and she knew that he didn't think any less of her for not understanding. He'd admitted to her that the only reason _he_ understood was because he had the knowledge of the most advanced races' best researchers that ever existed in his head.

Andrew had created a new Omni-chip.

The chip itself was composed of nanobots so that upon first insertion it would reconfigure the entire network inside the body of the user to allow it to function at full capacity. He'd given the first one off the line to Jack, and she'd been scared senseless when she slotted it in and felt cool tendrils spreading out around her body. After being pummelled for not warning her about the nanobots recreating the information pathways the Omni-tool used she had allowed him to run a series of benchmarks on it. The results were incredible, though not unexpected. Since he hadn't stuck to a single race's technology when creating the chip, it was more advanced than anything that had ever existed. A chip that was as thin as a piece of cardboard, and two centimetres square, had ten times the power of the galaxy's five most advanced server banks...combined.

The first time Izzy had jumped to the new Omni-tool she'd fainted with the power she had at her fingertips. Andrew literally had to reboot her. Now Izzy's existence resided primarily on his and Jack's Omni-tools, and only 'small-time' tasks were being executed on the server banks spread out around the galaxy.

The most important function of the Omni-tools however, was a very serious matter.

Andrew and Jack now had every single piece of music in the galaxy at their fingertips.

The Krogan section was quickly deleted, and the Hanar and Elcor music relegated to the section tagged as 'Comedy'.

Jack had been completely pushed out of the things Andrew was talking about to Mordin, and even though she'd badgered both of them for information on just what the 'top secret' projects were, she only ever got sly expressions and a shake of their heads in return. After two months since getting the supplies however, Andrew and Mordin, as well as Izzy and EDI, deemed one of their many projects perfected and decided to try it out... which led to the current scene.

The crew was eating dinner together; Mordin sitting to Andy's left while Jack was eating to his right, laughing at a joke her lover had just told. Miranda looked slightly disgusted at the crudeness of the story, but was still chuckling slightly. Tali snapped one of her nutrient tubes into her facemask, and Jack gave a suspicious frown when he saw Mordin and her lover jerk their attention to the action. Despite them masterfully talking and pretending that nothing was amiss, now that Jack had seen the signs she could follow their eyes flickering to the thickness of the tube. When Tali disconnected it from her mask and finished eating she turned and laughed at something Gardener had said.

Which is the precise moment Andy muttered something under his breath, and a tear the length of a hand opened up on the Quarian's suit. Everybody that could see it froze immediately, though Mordin and Andrew with barely concealed anticipation, and then all hell broke loose. Jack stared at Andy aghast, and he caught her expression before sending her an excited wink and turning his attention back to the still-oblivious Quarian. Gardener had noticed the silence and wide, terrified eyes of the crew, and despite not being able to see the problem he pointed it out to Tali. The Quarian followed the cook's finger, and then everybody's eyes. There, on the side of her torso, was a tear, and through that tear pale lavender skin was visible. This time _everybody_ was frozen, at least until Kar rushed to her side and tore a package from his waistband before trying to repair the huge gash in her suit. The moment he had covered it Jack heard Andrew mutter, "Disengage mask clamps and vent."

There was a small click and hiss, and Kar's eyes shot up to Tali's, glowing terrified beneath her mask as she breathed in unsterilized air for the first time in her life. "Oh keelah," came her heavily accented voice, and Kar jumped up and tried to help when she fumbled anxiously with the controls of her helmet; attempting to reseal herself from the bacteria-ridden atmosphere around her. All her attempts, and Kar'Shaal's however, were in complete vain because her suit was no longer her suit. Nanobots had begun replacing it bit by bit the moment she had begun ingesting her meal, and those nanobots were under Andrew's control.

"Andrew, help her!" yelled the distraught pilot, and Andrew gave a nod.

"Nanobots, reform to configuration four with one-way transparent veil."

And they did. Her entire suit shimmered before reforming, and everybody's eyes widened when the sleeves disappeared and shrunk into a form-hugging sleeveless hoodie; a veil covering her face. The bottom of her suit morphed into a pair of jeans that catered to her unusual leg shape, and a pair of comfortable slippers completed the ensemble.

Complete and utter silence.

Until Kar leapt over the table and tried to attack Andrew. He was stopped mid-flight; frozen in mid-air, and everybody watched with bated breath as Andrew stood. He ignored the glare of his friend, and looked across at Tali who stood stiffly in shock. "Tali, trust me when I say that you can breathe." He could see the glow of her eyes underneath the black veil staring at him, and after several seconds the sound of a breath being let out echoed like a gunshot in the room, and then a hesitant, shaky breath being taken in. Andy pulled up his Omni-tool, shocking everybody saves Jack with its beautiful blue haptic interface in comparison to the usual orange, and looked at the information the nanobots were providing; turning to Mordin slightly as he spoke. "Heartbeat elevated but within safe levels, as expected due to the shock; respiratory function normal; muscle scans show no deterioration; and blood sample shows full integration. Restructure is in stage four, and systems will be fully self-sufficient within thirty six hours. All protocols are green across the board." He grinned as he looked up at stock-still Quarian. "How're you feeling Tali?"

She was silent for several seconds, until she looked down at her bare hands in a state of clear shock. When her voice came out it was smooth; unmodulated by her headpiece. "I- I feel fine... normally with even a small suit puncture I would feel something by now..." She looked up at him. "What did you do to me?"

Grabbing Mordin around the shoulders he gave a wide grin, and even the Salarian couldn't find it in himself to be irritated by the one-armed 'chummy' gesture. "Mordin and I have been working on a cure for the Quarian immune deficiency," he explained with twinkling eyes, "and we've found it. Congratulations Tali; within forty hours your body will be completely able to survive in a hostile environment on its own."

She didn't know what to say. Nobody knew what to say. She eventually managed a small, "But why is my face covered?"

Andrew gave a shrug as he released Mordin. "Quarians haven't been seen outside of their suits for hundreds of years. I've invaded your privacy enough by showing your arms; it's your decision as to whom you would like to first see your face." He threw a food tube to Kar and sent him a wink. "That's your dose. If you take it now it'll be active within a few seconds and the nanobots will replace your suit with Morphic armour."

If he could see his pilot's face he was sure it would have been shocked. "Th-thank you."

The two Quarians, or rather Tali who dragged Kar with her, had run off almost immediately after thanking both Andrew and Mordin profusely, and neither were seen for the next three days. Knowing that Tali's father, Admiral Rael'Zorah, was about to bring his Geth platforms online through a hack he'd had Izzy do, he told Shepard to set an immediate course for the Migrant Fleet. This of course, gave Andy yet another chance to play a prank... and after getting Tali and Kar on the comms they were excited at the prospect as well. Whilst on the way to the Fleet Shepard had requested an urgent meeting with the Admiralty Board, and after quickly verifying that they were who they said they were Andy, Jack, John, Tali, and Kar'Shaal were escorted to the chamber in which the meeting would be held.

It was very, very hard for John, Jack, and Andy to keep their faces straight knowing what was about to happen. Kar and Tali had no such problem, as they were hidden beneath their Morphic Armour made to look like their Environmental Suits. Rael'Zorah looked especially irritated at having been called to the meeting, despite the fact that his daughter was there, and Andy had to hide a snarl at his annoyed, "Why have you called us here and interrupted our duties?"

Shepard stepped forwards, his armour thinning and changing into smart attire similar to what Andy had worn to the VIP section of Afterlife, and the entire audience gasped at the spectacle. "I think I'll pass that off to our chief technological designer and engineer Andrew Kronos."

Heads snapped towards him in recognition, and he noted that the crowd parted quite widely as he approached Shepard from the back of the crowd. He wasn't surprised; his name was synonymous with complete destruction of his enemies, and although the Quarians weren't one of his foes he still made for an imposing figure. Leaning on the rail he gave the board a charming smile as his suit shifted to his most comfortable day-wear; a light grey hoodie, track pants, and a pair of his self-designed and customised trainers. Jack soon shifted to the same attire, with the exception of the hoodie in favour of a black singlet, and the entire Quarian people watched with awe. "Sorry for 'interrupting your duties', Admiral Rael'Zorah, but we have something of interest to the Quarian nation. Tali?" The woman in question stepped forwards holding a small glowing orb, and once more the crowd parted as she, Jack, and Kar walked up to the podium as well. She set it down on the small desk available to them, and Andrew smiled once more at the board. "This, my esteemed and fellow engineers, is a Stabilised Flux Generator."

"It doesn't look very impressive," commented Tali's father snidely, and Andrew leant forwards with a raised eyebrow.

"I've always wanted to know, Admiral, just how far that stick is shoved up your _shtenal_?" Gasps rang out in the chamber, and Andrew watched the man's grip tighten on his own rail. "But that can wait, can't it Admiral? After all, with your attitude it'd take years to extract the damn thing." Ignoring the murmuring of discontent at his blatant insults at one of their most respected he continued. "It doesn't need to 'look' impressive, Admiral, because its record speaks for itself. I'm sure everybody's seen the Normandy by now?" He looked around and got nods from every Quarian whose eyes he met and gave a nod of his own before turning back to Rael with a sly grin. "Well out ship uses this little baby right here," he tapped the orb of light, "to power it."

"Preposterous!"

"Scan it yourself if you don't believe me," he challenged, and Tali's father gave a snort before stepping confidently forwards and walking towards the bench on which the supposedly infinitely powerful power core rested. Quickly bringing up his Omni-tool, looking at Andrew smugly the entire time, he brought up a benchmark program and touched one end of the haptic interface to the orb's surface. His Omni-tool quickly fizzed, and he jerked it back from the object with his glowing eyes widening behind his mask. Everybody close to him could see the results on his still-jerking Omni-tool, and Andrew leant forwards with a predatory grin. "That's right, Admiral, three hundred thousand Evetrions." Gasps of shock and murmurs of amazement came from the eagerly listening crowd, and Andrew leaned closer to the stock-still Admiral; speaking loudly enough that his whisper could carry to the very back of the crowd. "And that... well that's only five percent of its possible output."

Admiral Rael'Zorah fainted.

Tali had to stifle a snort of amusement, not at all impressed by the earlier attitude of her father, and all of the humans gave matching grins of triumph. The other Admirals quickly attended to their fallen member, and Andy stepped back from the podium. Tali quickly took up where he had been standing, and waited for her father to rouse once more and stand, albeit shakily, before speaking. "Now the second function of the Flux Generator is as a wormhole generator." She tapped it once, and a hologram popped up above it. She quickly tapped away at the complex interface, and a moment later it pulsed and a tear opened up beside her. Grinning all the way underneath her mask she stepped through it, and then tapped her hand on her father's shoulder. The man's yell alerted the rest of the audience, and heads snapped to the Admiralty Board before several people fainted at seeing Tali standing behind her quivering father. She stepped back through the tear in reality and deactivated the Generator, and the wormhole closed. "Of course doing that uses up all the energy it produces, and that's just for one that size. Andy's got a more powerful one back on the ship that is solely dedicated to creating wormholes that we can jump through."

And then came the kicker.

She turned around and waved a hand over her face like a fan, her exasperated voice coming from her mask a moment later. "Is it just me or is it getting really hot in here?"

All four of her teammates made a show of checking themselves over and shrugging, and Jack cocked her head to the side. "Could just be your damn suit, must be like a fucking boiler in there."

Tali nodded thoughtfully, "Could be..." A moment later she brought up her Omni-tool; its interface a beautiful vibrant purple, and everybody was treated to a holographic bust of a woman appearing above her arm. She hummed and haa'd as she flipped through clothing choices, and nodded when it came to a plain white singlet, a pair of skin-tight jeans, and sleek combat boots that she had designed the night before. Tapping a small button on the interface she scrolled to the option that said 'SLOW' and tapped it again. Eyes widened as her suit's boot section shimmered and morphed into the selected boots; purple-patterned black leather forming as if from nothing, and then the jeans that dipped below their tops. The ripples spread upwards even further, reaching her torso, and the suit seemed to disintegrate to reveal soft, thin, white material that hugged her body. The ripples finally travelled down her arms, and Rael let out a yell of, "NO!" when her bare skin was revealed; her three slim fingers visible to all. Neither Tali nor the transformation reacted to the protest, and the ripples finally reached up her neck, dissolving the suit and finally her mask. Her long black hair fell out behind her and reached just below her shoulders, and for the first time in many people's lives they got to see what a Quarian really looked like underneath their mask. Tali's team were the only people that weren't horrified and so could fully take in her appearance, and Andrew let out a soft smile and a warm, friendly nod when Tali's head turned towards him and the rest of her squad mates; her brow lifted in a silent question, and her glowing white eyes tinged with worry.

She was beautiful.

Andrew was surprised that hair was still a feature on their bodies, but then shook it off; evolution took tens of thousands of years before things started to change significantly. Her skin was light lavender, and looked just as smooth and flawless as that of an Asari's. Her face was highly angular and defined; holding human characteristics, but to a far more sleek design. Her eyes were narrower and more slanted than that of a human; tilted slightly upwards, and glowed with a magnificent radiance. Her lips were thin and coloured a light blue in comparison to the rest of her skin, and her long, silky black hair contrasted strikingly with the rest of her features. Andrew stepped forward, unafraid, and rested his hand on the bare skin of her shoulder before sending her a small chuckle and squeezing slightly to reassure her. "Smooth as a baby's bottom," he murmured, and a dark purple blush spread across her cheeks.

"Quarantine team!" came a yell from up front, and Tali raised an eyebrow before crouching slightly when her father yelled, "Permission to forcefully restrain granted!" Andy quickly adopted a fighting stance, as did Shepard, Jack, and a quickly morphed Kar, who was now dressed in much the same as Andrew. The crowd that had come to spectate quickly rushed away from the five; giving the battle-ready group a wide berth, and the crack-commando squad attacked with the intent to restrain Tali.

It didn't work out well for them.

Andrew quickly pivoted with trained ease; smashing one of the Quarian's square in the gut, and the ran up the torso of another before flipping backwards; kicking him in the head and ploughing the commando behind him to the ground in one fluid movement. Jack likewise was moving in a brutal attack pattern, not to kill or injure, but rather debilitate. The order quickly came to "Subdue the humans with lethal force if necessary!" and bullets quickly begun flying. By this point only the admirals, the Normandy group, and the commandos were present in the room, and Andy breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't want to have the deaths of any innocents on his hands. Any space that was uncovered on the ground team's bodies was quickly wreathed in a small film of blue; proximity sensitive to rounds, and the moment one came within a centimetre of their bodies the nanobots would shoot out and redirect the momentum of the rounds. The effect was amazing to watch. Small jets of black occasionally flared out over the crew's skin to intercept the mass-accelerated projectiles, and then Andy caught Tali's eyes as he redirected a punch from one of the Quarian commandoes. He nodded towards one of the knife-wielding ones, and after a moment she gave a small nod and cheeky smile before moving to cover his back as he charged the man. As soon as he was within arm's reach the Quarian swung wildly, and Andy redirected its attack path... right into Tali. She quickly raised her arms, and a shallow slice opened up on her skin. She quickly slapped her hand over it, her eyes flaring, and Rael yelled out when he caught sight of the blue blood seeping out from beneath her fingers.

The Commando team all stopped their attacks to see what had happened, and Jack, Andy, Kar and Shepard made quick work of them the moment their attention was diverted; knocking them out. Andy unhurriedly pulled some medi-gel from his pocket, and Tali lifted her hand to expose the ten centimetre long, bleeding cut. He quickly lathered it with the gel, and within moments the cut had been covered by a shiny film of artificial skin that stimulated healing factors. "Well Father," she said as she turned to face him with a raised eyebrow, "I wasn't expecting you to do _that_."

"Tali! Get back in your suit now, I order you!"

Her eyebrows rose further. "I'm sorry," she said dangerously as Kar walked to her side, bringing his own unsuited condition to attention, "did you just order me to do something Father? Because you've never really acted like a Father." The man stepped back as if physically slapped and Tali took a step forwards; her face twisted into an expression of anger. "Ever since Mother died," she growled, "all you've cared about is your work. Those... things you've been working on Father," Rael tensed, "they would have killed you, and taken the Allerai if you'd activated them. The only reason you're not dead right now is because Andy," she jerked one of her fingers towards the silent blonde, "ordered a hack on your ship and discovered that you were mere hours away from doing so, and then ordered Shepard to call an urgent meeting here that would require your presence." The rest of the Board looked confused, but Tali ignored them. "So I won't do what you asked me to," she said definitively, "because I don't need to. I was just cut by an unsterilized blade, Father, do you know what that should mean? I shouldn't be standing right now; I should be on the ground weakening with every single passing second." She launched a quick, brutal, and powerful hand-to-hand attack on Andy, which he easily rebuffed, and then turned back to her father with a small smirk. "As you can see Father, I'm not weakened in the least, and no longer need a suit. Had you not overreacted and allowed us to explain, you would had discovered that Andrew and Professor Mordin Solus found the cure to our immune systems - and do you know what else Father, Admirals? He's even got us the inhabitant rights to a tropical planet called Virmire!"

"How can you still be standing?" questioned Rael weakly, as if he hadn't heard his daughter's explanation, and Tali looked over her shoulder before nodding to Andy. He pulled a pistol from inside his hoodie, and then raised it to point at the Admiralty Board. Two seconds and five small 'fwut' sounds later all of the suited Quarians looked down in horror at the small darts that had blown right through their shields and imbedded in their thighs. Moments later the darts dissolved and slid down their legs like liquid, before quickly replacing their suits with casual clothes that Tali had pre-chosen. The looks of terror on the Board's faces when they were finally revealed were almost comical, and Andy quickly snapped a picture with his Omni-tool. Tali sent him a small glare, and he returned a sheepish shrug and a protest of, "Hey, it was funny!"

"Not helping, Andy."

She turned back around to face the stiffened and silent Admiralty Board, and the five all watched with amusement as they tried to hold their breaths. Admiral Shala'Raan was the first to succumb to the need for air and gasped as she drew in a deep lungful, and Zaal'Koris followed soon after looking terrified. Daro'Xen held on for the longest... knowingly at least, while after four minutes Admiral Han'Gerrel fainted from a lack of oxygen and begun breathing as soon as he lost consciousness. Andy approached the four, and walked right up to Rael. Right in the middle of a breath he gave a great cough right into the Admiral's face, filled with nice, lethal - to Quarians at least - bacteria, and watched as the man's face paled. Zaal'Koris finally got over the shock of the whole situation, and opened his mouth. "You will be arrested for our murders, I swear that to you!"

"Feeling alright there?"

The General opened his mouth to retort, and then quickly snapped it shut when he realized that he felt perfectly fine. He looked over at the other Admirals, making doubly sure to look at Rael who had caught a nice lungful of harmful bacteria, and his expression quickly turned from furious to confused, and then to one reminiscent of a lost puppy when he saw the man standing stiffly, but very much alive and well.

Tali had simply smirked.

The talks had gone on for nearly ten hours, whereupon the public had slowly trickled back in - at first horrified that the avatars of justice in their system were un-suited and breathing in unclean air - but quickly turning amazed and completely awed when even after hours none of the bare-skinned Quarians had fallen ill or shown any signs of being any different to how they would normally be within their suits. The talks finally ended with the Quarian people swearing their allegiance to face the Reaper threat, and Andrew transferring the required supply of the immune-enhancing nanotechnology onto the ship, as well as providing them with a locked Stabilised Flux Generator as he didn't want them playing around with wormholes.

Andy had killed the nanobots of the newly generated clothing of the Admirals so that it was simply artificial cloth instead of the Morphic armour, and then departed with Shepard and the rest of the crew feeling tired, but happy and satisfied with the day's happenings. They had gained a huge ally in the fight against the Reapers; an ally that would soon be colonising a world for the first time in hundreds of years with the space and resources to help build the required weapons against the threat.

Leaving Tali to explain to the rest of the crew what had happened Jack dragged Andy into their bedroom, locked the door, and then promptly stripped herself before forcing him to do the same and yanking him underneath the covers. They had barely said their goodnights before they had fallen asleep; both with matching smiles on their faces and thinking of what the next day would bring.


	10. Big Breaks

It had been three weeks since the meeting with the Admiralty Board, and while Jack had often been out on recruitment and loyalty missions Andy had been working tirelessly on completing the final designs for several pieces of important technology. As the newly-recruited Thane was ferried out to the ship via a Kodiak Drop Shuttle he bore witness to an incredible sight. The entire surface of the Normandy rippled like water, and in the ripple's wake different colours were left. On the first ripple a light matte grey covered the hull, followed by a deep blue, garish green, a blood-red, and then finally the last layer settled slowly over its surface; the ripple travelling noticeably slower than its predecessors. The Normandy SR-2 was no longer reminiscent of a Cerberus Vessel. The orange and yellows had been discarded in favour of a cooler colour set; beautifully pearlescent blues and purples that seemed to fluctuate as one moved position. The underside and top still had the black and white markings where they had been previously, but otherwise it was unrecognizable. Thane had done a double take when he saw a man floating two hundred meters out from the ship in the middle of space, and had nearly choked on his spit when Shepard adjusted course and made for the figure. The reason for his shock was that the man was sitting on a deck chair in a pair of shorts, a singlet, and jandals... sipping on a glass of juice and tapping away on his Omni-tool as he oversaw the replating.

In the middle of a lethal vacuum.

They'd pulled up right beside the man, and Thane saw Shepard give a small chuckle and a shake of his head when Andy gave them all a jaunty wave and greeted them over the radio system. The Drell had dropped his jaw when he'd been told to seal his suit against the vacuum and watched Jack open the hatch and join the man after her armour transformed into a pair of sweatpants, a singlet, and a pair of slippers, and as they made their way towards the loading bay of the Normandy Shepard had warned the floored Assassin to expect to see things like that a lot. The second they stepped out of the drop ship all of their weapons disappeared, and Thane had been confused as to just where they had got to, and how he hadn't seen them be taken. Shepard, likewise, was just confused with the disappearance, at least until he took Thane on the tour and entered the Armory.

Jake was passed out on the floor with a silly grin on his face, and all the weapons racks were stocked with the most confounding looking tubes he had ever seen. They were about the size of his index finger and coloured a matte grey. The Commander had hesitantly picked up one of them, and had nearly joined Jacob on the floor when the tube suddenly transformed around his hand and assembled itself into a sniper rifle; pulling his fingers automatically into the correct position for combat readiness. A film had erected itself over his eyes, and he felt a slight sting before seeing one of the most amazing sights he'd ever beheld. Everything was indescribably clear to him, and he could see a small crosshair appear above where his eye would rest when firing. He hesitantly lifted the weapon to a ready position, and then gasped when the spec outside the window zoomed in and the Citadel came into clear view.

Andy later explained that the weapons system interfaced directly with the optical nerve and Omni-network, hence the slight sting, to give the user complete control over virtually all aspects of the rifle - from 'scope' magnification to projectile size. All the new weapons used a Zero-Point Acceleration Mechanism that blasted their projectiles at nearly a tenth the speed of light, and upon deceleration the projectiles, composed of nanobots, destabilized themselves and collapsed their Eezo cores. The result: a completely silent weapon saves for a small click upon firing, whose projectiles exploded and ionized whatever they hit.

Garrus was last seen leaving the armoury carrying a sniper rifle and heading towards his sleeping quarters.

He wasn't seen for three days afterwards.

Andrew didn't even want to know.

Three days after finishing the armour replacement on the Normandy SR-2 found Andrew standing in the middle of his and Jack's room; the woman herself sitting beside him and looking at a one-meter long metallic pole sitting on the floor in trepidation. "You sure this is going to work?"

He stared at the result of nearly two months design work and shrugged uneasily. "I hope so." They stared at it for several more moments before Andrew pulled up his Omni-tool. "Only one way to find out," he reasoned, and quickly set up a bridge between his system and the static, rather unimpressive pole on the floor. "Well it's interfacing perfectly, and it's running the right algorithms and processes..." He stared at it for a few seconds as if he could change it by just looking, but then shook his head and called out, "Hey Iz, you there?"

A second later the bubbly red-head appeared above Andy's arm and grinned at him. "Heya!"

He smiled back and then looked nervously at the pipe on the floor. This, of course, made Izzy turn around to see what he was looking at, and that gave him the opportunity to punch the button awaiting input on his Omni-tool. Izzy immediately winked out of existence, and the two biotics watched the piece of metal on the floor anxiously. "It's not doing anything," Jack commented after several seconds, and Andy gave a worried chuckle.

"Well it's a massive tasking, even for the nanobots. They're probably just initializing-" He cut himself off when the rod suddenly shuddered and then seemed to melt into an impossible puddle ten centimeters thick, and a smile made its way onto his face when it slowly begun to form a shape - widening when its momentum increased. It quickly turned humanoid in appearance, and details rapidly begun to take intricate definition - eventually leaving a metallic-looking statue of a busty woman. A second later colour flared from the feet of the construct and surged up the legs to reveal jeans - bursting over the torso and blossoming a white singlet and crème cardigan into existence. Skin seemed to materialize, and then the hair turned fibrous and coloured a rich red interspersed with black highlights.

Then her eyes opened; glowing an almost ethereal amber.

She looked around in confusion, and then at a giddily grinning Andy and Jack in puzzlement. "You look kinda... bigger. How did I get here?" Andy gave an almost mad little giggle and pointed, and she looked at his finger with a raised eyebrow and then to where it was aimed. She stared down at her body in confusion, and then back at a singularly chuckling Andy who looked like he was almost peeing himself with anticipation. She quickly analyzed his body language while relegating most of her workload to the other server banks at her disposal, and then hurriedly looked around her. "Where's my projection point?"

This just made Andrew give another unstable giggle, and then suddenly pump his fists before glomping Jack. "I did it! Hahaha, it actually worked!"

This made Izzy narrow her eyes, and then look down at herself before walking over to the pair and standing with her hands on her hips. "I've got several scenarios calculated, and none of them are feasible. Where's my projection unit?" Andy looked wildly around before brightening when his eyes landed on a bottle of unopened Coca-Cola from the last supply run. He ran over to the bar, picked it up, and then popped the cap with a flare of biotics before nearly skipping back to Izzy and holding it out to her. She looked at it with a raised eyebrow, and then met Andrew's eyes. "Are you on something?"

Jack just grinned at her, and Andy shook his head wildly, his grin not diminishing in the slightest, if anything just getting wider. "Just humour me, take it."

She rolled her eyes and then waved her hand at the bottle to demonstrate that she was just a hologram, but froze, literally, when her hand was stopped by the bottle and she _felt_ cold glass. It was then that she became aware that she was feeling things... like a pressure of the clothes on her body, the warmth of the room around her... and she could smell. The moment she realized that she was actually_ sensing_ things she was almost overwhelmed by the influx of information, and turned her eyes up from the glass bottle to look at her creator with wide eyes. "W-how did you do this? Is it an inhibitor algorithm?"

He placed the bottle in her fingers, curling them around it, and then grinned at her. "If that's the case then you shouldn't be able to change the things around you." And then he stepped back, withdrawing his own support from the bottle of cola. It didn't fall. She stared at the glass bottle held in her hand in complete shock, and he gave a happy laugh. "The Xeons and Heliodroids were an AI race that existed around three billion years ago. They created these kinds of bodies for themselves so that they could physically affect things, and the best thing is that its self-repairing... which essentially means immortal, age-wise at least." His grin widened. "Welcome to reality, Izzy." Taking the initiative he stepped forwards and pulled her into a hug, making sure not to jostle the bottle held in her hand, and she stared into his shoulder with wide eyes before hesitantly hugging him back. Several seconds later he disengaged himself, and nodded to the bottle in her hand with a grin. "Go on, give it a try."

She looked at where he was directing her attention, and then snapped her eyes back to him. She received a reassuring nod in return, and falteringly lifted it to her lips before copying what she had seen on videos and tipping the contents into her mouth. She dropped the drink when she felt the fizzing in her mouth, as well as the whirlwind of never-before-experienced taste, and didn't notice when Jack cast her hand lazily out to catch the falling bottle and liquid; too immersed in the new _feelings_ running through her. She automatically swallowed, and her entire body shivered with the feeling of buzzing that ran down her throat. "This is impossible," she muttered after a moment, and Andy just grinned before shaking his head.

"No, Iz, it's not. It's... staggering, finally meeting you I mean... but it's fantastic to finally meet you in the flesh." She looked down at her skin, and then poked it, jerking back when it gave under her touch - just like that of a normal human. She poked herself a few times before holding her hands under her breasts and giving them a jiggle, and Andy gave a cough mid-sip on a glass of water, spluttering for several seconds before managing a, "Right, first lesson: modesty."

It had taken nearly half an hour for Izzy to get over what had happened, which was saying something considering her unfathomable mental capabilities, but she finally understood just what had been done for her, and had spent the next half-hour hugging both of them and thanking them profusely - crying for the first time in her existence. She finally begged for EDI to join them, and Andy finally yielded and pulled another rod from his locker. EDI was just as surprised as Izzy when she realized what had happened, and was equally as thankful. Shepard just happened to walk in on their activities three hours later, and froze when he saw a serious-looking red-head stumbling around slurring about a monk, a rabbi, and a Russian; and a kimono-wearing Asian woman holding onto her sides crying in laughter along with Andy and Jack. It had taken yet another hour after that for to explain to Shepard just what was going on, and by the time Shepard sat back in awed amazement the alcohol had cleared Izzy's system.

And then EDI had gone walkabout.

People gave her odd looks as she walked past them in the hallways, looking around for her projection medium, and she just gave them jaunty waves and a sly smile in answer to their confusion. She finally found her way to the place she was looking for, and exited the elevator before taking her first ever steps onto the Engineering Level, her tabi socks padding softly against the metal flooring. She quickly made her way into the engine room, and then cleared her throat to get everybody's attention. Tali turned her head and frowned slightly when she saw that EDI was looking more solid than usual, while Kenneth snapped around and sent the AI a beaming smile; his voice heavy with what he considered his charming Scottish accent. "Ah, EDI! How are you today?"

Gabby just rolled her eyes and turned back to her work, whereas the Asian woman walked forwards, picked the man bodily up off the floor, and then pushed him against the wall; her eyes dangerously sly. "You, Kenneth, really need to open your eyes and stop being a horny Scotsman." The man in question was gaping down at the previously-thought-holographic woman, and Tali was staring at the spectacle with a slack jaw and wide eyes - a recently-entered Kar freezing dead in his tracks. Gabrielle simply looked like she was about to faint. "I've seen the way you're all sweet on Gabbi," EDI smirked, "and how she gives you those almost simpering and desperate looks whenever you're not looking. You're being a, as you so wonderfully put it, 'complete arse'" she emphasized with a brilliant Scottish accent, "by ignoring her and ogling other women. She's pretty, and you damn well know it, so stop talking about other peoples' 'fine piece of ass' and focus on hers - because you love her, and she loves you."

Meanwhile Andy and Jack, along with Izzy, were walking along the CIC deck. Much as EDI had gotten, Izzy received odd looks - though because they had never seen her before rather than the fact that they knew she was an AI in the case of EDI. Handing a small cylinder to Izzy Andy gave a wink. "You do the honours Iz, I know you've been dying to pay him back for those comments the other night." He was, of course, referring to the fact that Joker had commented on what a 'fantastic pair of tits' she had. Miranda, his very, very unexpected girlfriend, had quickly dealt him a slap upside the head - though he probably didn't even feel it with the level of intoxication he was sporting, however Izzy had sworn revenge. She had been planning on making a deal with EDI to randomly emulate emails from his address to male crew members confessing his love.

Walking up to the unsuspecting pilot she jabbed the tube at his neck, where a needle two centimeters long imbedded itself in his jugular. His answering squeal made her grin; revenge was sweet. The three, as well as the now very silent crew, all watched as the pilot fell out of his seat clutching at his neck and yelling out obscenities - before quickly letting out a yell of pain and convulsing several times. Miranda sprinted out of the elevator a minute after his yells had begun, and rushed to his side before cradling his head in her lap and glaring up at the three - faltering when she saw Izzy. "What the _fuck_ did you do!" she yelled over her boyfriend's agony, and Andy shook his head.

"Wait for a minute!" he yelled back, and she glared in response.

Twelve seconds later the yells dimmed to moans, and Joker slowly unclenched from his fetal position before glaring up at Izzy. "Foregoing the fact that I don't know how the hell you managed to stab me, what the _fuck_ was that for?"

Izzy gave a small smirk. "That's payback for your comment the other night," she explained, and watched as he paled at the slight glare Miranda gave him at being reminded of the 'compliment'. Her voice softened when she spoke again however, and she sent him a small smile. "It was also for being a good friend."

Both Miranda and he responded to that with confused expressions, and Andy stepped forwards before offering his hand to the pilot with a small smile. Joker eyed the offered hand warily but took it all the same, and he was helped to his feet. He looked at the blonde, confused when he didn't let his hand go, but started panicking when the pressure on his fingers increased. Trying to tug his hand free with ever-widening eyes he yelled at the man, "Oi! What the fuck man, stop it!"

Miranda hurriedly got to her feet and was about to step in when Andy suddenly let go, and Joker, who was mid-tug, flailed backwards before slamming up against the instrument panel. "Jeff!"

She rushed to his side, but was shocked when her boyfriend jumped to his feet stalked over to Andy noticeably limpless, and then punched the biotic full in the face... or at least tried. Andy easily sidestepped the attack and then jammed his elbow right into Joker's sternum with a force that sent him slamming into the wall. He knew that normally that kind of pressure would have broken the pilot's entire ribcage, but that was the point. Joker stumbled for a moment before getting back to his feet and glaring at Andy... at least until the grinning mercenary cocked an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and nodded at him. "So... how're you feeling?"

It suddenly became very evident to just what the technological genius was referring, and Jeff Moreau looked down at his hand, and then his torso in shock. "Okay, now I'm just fucking confused," he murmured, and the three could only laugh when Miranda pulled him into a crushing hug having deduced what had happened as well.

Jeff's Vrolik syndrome was no more.

The 22nd of June 2185 would forever go down in history as the day of complete and utter overhauls in regards technology. The main guns were reconstructed by the nanobots lining the hull; the wormhole generators were completed; construction of heavy defensive weaponry began on over four hundred planets; the Quarians had begun manufacturing ship-mounted weaponry of Andy's design with the aide of nanobots he'd left on the Fleet; and Thane's meal was spiked with a cure to his Kepral's Syndrome. Galaxy-wide the operating systems of all non-isolated computing units were rewritten stealthily to ensure immunity from any and all hacking attempts bar those originating from Jack, Andrew, and anybody they specified.

Perhaps the most meaningful advances in technology however, were shared within a group of only a select few.

Shepard was very ready to crash. He had spent the entire day with Andrew being briefed on all the new technology they now had at their fingertips, and his mind was fuzzy with the overload of information. He hated to think how the mysterious mercenary had felt when he'd gained Otrere's knowledge. He stepped wearily into his cabin and gave a small smile when he saw Liara working diligently at his desk. She had come clean to him about being one of the new Shadow Brokers after a week in his company, and he hadn't made a big deal about it - simply smiling and telling her how proud he was that she was a part of something so huge. She greeted him with a warm smile, giving a wince of understanding when she saw his drawn expression, and walked over to him before pulling him into a hug. He leaned on her slightly, and she gave a small chuckle. "Hard day at the office love?"

He chuckled right back and gave a nod. "Yeah, just a bit. I can't believe some of the things Andy's done; they're almost incomprehensible. I mean, take EDI and Izzy for instance; he's given them _solid_ bodies. They can eat, Liara, and drink - they're just like normal humans, only with the brain power of a supercomputer and able to regenerate far, far faster than we can. And the guns, my God, you should see the benchmarks on the main battery, and that's not even mentioning the fact that they've cured two previously incurable diseases." She gave a chuckle and nodded before leading him over to the bed to sit down and walking over to pour him a much needed drink of water. He nodded thankfully as she handed him the glass and sat down next to him, and he emptied it in mere seconds. "I needed that."

"I know you did," she smiled, and he smiled back - leaning in to kiss her. He was interrupted however, when a small beep came from his door signaling a visitor, and with an annoyed sigh he pulled away and waved his hand at the door.

It snapped open to reveal a grinning Andrew and Shepard gave a groan and buried his head in his hands; his muffled voice issuing forth a moment later. "Andy, I think I've heard more than I can take today."

He stepped inside and waved his hand reassuringly, his smile widening. "Just one more thing Shep and then I'll get out of your hair, 'kay?" Once he got a reluctant nod from the savior of the Citadel he dragged the chair over from the desk and looked at the pair with a small smile. "See, everybody else's had something. Thane and Joker've been cured of their afflictions, Miranda's had that Reaper shit removed, Jacob's jizzed over the new guns-"

"Didn't need that mental image," John interrupted, but Andy continued on like he hadn't heard.

"And Garrus' got the frustration that the new guns don't need his oh-so-revered calibrations. Tali and Kar have top-of-the-line immune systems, EDI and Izzy have bodies... and it just seems unfair that you, the man who brought us all together, gets nothing." He looked to Liara and gave a small smile and nod. "You too. You've become a great friend over the past couple of years, and so you deserve something as well." He pulled a small phial from his pocket and threw it to Shepard, and the man caught it before looking at the bright green liquid inside dubiously. "Trust me, Shep, and drink that. Oh, and prepare for some- well, a lot of pain for a couple of minutes."

John looked up at his friend seriously for several seconds, searching for any traces of a joke, and upon finding none gave a nod, unscrewed the lid, and then threw back the contents; swallowing with a grimace. Andy brought up his Omni-tool and looked to Shepard, and when he received a short, sharp nod he pressed the confirm button on the prompt awaiting him. The man immediately convulsed, and a low, agonized groan tore itself unbidden from between his clenched teeth. Liara jerked away with a pained expression on her face, and looked worriedly to Andy who shook his head with a reassuring smile. "It's alright; a fast tracked genetic modification like this is pretty much impossible to complete without feeling pain like he is." She gave a small nod before returning her attention to her lover's writhing body, and moved to take his hand when Andy moved with a burst of speed and slapped her fingers aside before they could touch the man. She looked up, hurt, and Andy shook his head sternly. "His muscles are all tensing to maximum capability," he explained, "if he got your hand in his he'd be liable to crunch all your bones to dust. Seriously, I'm not joking."

The hurt look disappeared, returning to one of immense concern as she looked at Shepard, but she relaxed when he slowly stilled; his breathing short and jerky. "Goddamn," he rasped after a moment, "that really fucking hurt."

Andy gave a small chuckle and went and refilled the glass of water before handing it to the wincing man who had been helped into a sitting position by Liara. He slowly sipped at it, sighing as it soothed his suddenly-parched throat, and looked to his chief technological advisor with a raised eyebrow. "Mind telling me why I went through that?"

Andy nodded and pulled the desk chair closer so that he was sitting just in front of the couple. "I'm not sure if you know about it, but due to Jack and I being unleashed Biotics we possess a unity with Dark Energy never before seen. Without any conscious input out biotics work in tandem with our bodies to ensure stability and maximum performance. The result of this is biotic-guided genetic replication in new cells." He saw dawning comprehension on Liara's face, and smiled at the confused Shepard. "What that means is that, as I once explained to Jack, you should imagine the normal human body as a line of one hundred humans. You whisper something to the first person in the line, and then they whisper it to the next person, and so on until it reaches the end. Do you think the last person has the same message?"

"Not bloody likely," was the adamant reply, and Andy gave a chuckle and an agreeing nod.

"Right. That's a model of the normal human body; as your cells replicate over your lifetime the information gets corrupted, and eventually gets to the point where the original message is lost - whereupon you die. With Jack and I however, what our biotics allow is for a piece of etched metal with the message on it to be passed down the line to the end. Our message will eventually get scratched and messed up a little, but it's still easily readable in its original form with the aide of our biotics...or at least that's what I once thought. I once calculated just how many times this would extend our lifetimes by, but I was a tad off. I told Jack that it would allow us to reduce the errors in our cell replications by eight, which brings our lifespans to around one thousand two hundred years."

"That's... that's just incredible," Shepard commented after a moment before frowning. "You overestimated?"

Andy gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "If only. No, I _underestimated_. I took a genetic map four years ago of myself. Three days ago I took a sample from the same place, and the genome had deteriorated by, well... it was identical."

Liara stared at him, deadpan. "You're talking about immortality."

He nodded sheepishly. "Right... pretty much. It seems that the dark energy has a memory of sorts, and collaborates around Jack's and my bodies; keeping all the DNA code perfect and in complete synchronization. We're, well, we're going to be twenty years old until we decide to pass on really."

"Dude..." breathed Shepard, and after several seconds pause pregnant with anticipation, he followed with, "that's freaking awesome."

Andy gave a small chuckle but looked doubtful. "Is it? I'm going to have to go through watching all my friends die, you two included. I'm going to watch wars pass, civilizations evolve, the entire universe change whilst I stay stagnant. The only thing that makes it seem comforting is that I have an eternity to spend with Jack... but I think that neither of us could stay alive for an eternity. Jack and I discussed it and both agreed that in the end, when we both felt ready, we would pass on together - to the next great adventure." He shook himself slightly upon seeing his two friend's understanding expressions and sent them a smile. "But we're off track, aren't we? See, Asari have lifespans of just over one thousand years... and John, well you're scheduled to expire in around a hundred... which means that Liara's going to live for around nine hundred years alone... because if I judge it correctly, I have a feeling that she would never love again because everything would pale in comparison to what she feels for you."

Shepard looked to Liara questioningly, and she gave a small nod and blush. "You're my life mate," she explained quietly, and Shepard's shields came crashing down.

Before he could move to comfort her however, Andy cleared his throat to bring their attention to him. "This is where we come to my gift to you. I have disposed of the research that led to the creation of what you just ingested, as many would swarm to peel apart its secrets and inner-workings, but... well you're not _entirely_ human any more, Shep." He grinned at the soldier's confused expression and leant forwards to explain. "You're, if we go by average lifespan, about a fifth of the way through your life. Translate that into 'Asari' years and you're at around two hundred years old." Liara, once more, looked like she was catching on if her widening eyes were anything to go by, and Andy grinned before turning to Shepard. "That concoction you just drank was something akin to what Tali had - but it had to be done simultaneously or else you would risk rejection, hence the pain. The nanobots were programmed to take a scan of a stem cell within your bone marrow, and then modify it using their own computing power and that of my Omni-tool. The entire cell mechanism was modified, as was the process of cell replication. Your helicase, that's a protein that unravels your DNA to ready it for replication or transcription, was replaced with one modeled on the Asari. All the DNA Polymerase, Primase and all that jazz was done away with, and the entire process simplified with a modified Asari protein that did all the tasks in one step, thus reducing DNA transcription errors. I won't get into all the other specifics, but every part of every cell in your body was optimized and modified to mirror that of an Asari Cell's efficiency and accuracy." Shepard looked on the verge of understanding, and Andy leant over and tapped the man's knee to interrupt his concentration. "Shep, you're going to be able to live as long as Liara."

Andrew had never before seen Shepard truly speechless, but now was an exception. His mouth opened a couple of times in an attempt to voice some response, but he just couldn't manage it. Andrew stood when he saw tears begin to make an appearance, and nodded to the both of them with a happy smile. "Congratulations, both of you. I'll give you two some privacy. If you want to find me or Jack we'll be in the medical bay getting our new amps installed." Receiving a small nod from Liara who broke away from peppering Shepard's face with soft kisses he quickly made an exit and punched the button for the crew deck, telling EDI to lock down the Captain's quarters for the next twelve hours unless opened from the inside. EDI confirmed that it was locked, and when the doors opened he came face to face with her. She smiled. "Jack's waiting for you in the Medical Bay."

He nodded and smiled, and she walked by his side as he made his way there. "It's kinda weird being in a body and yet still having all my other programs running," she commented, and Andy sent her a small smile.

"I can imagine."

"You're quiet," she commented, but then her eyes lit up in understanding. "Ah, you gave John the cellular modification."

He nodded and paused outside the Medical Bay. "It's... I don't know. I think it's sort of overwhelming. They just looked so happy when they realized that they had an entire lifetime together; that they wouldn't have to spend time without the other by their side. It- well, it sounds kinda sappy, but I just feel amazing... so light, after gifting them such happiness."

She patted him on the back and sent him a smile. "You deserve to feel amazing after what you did, now get in there before Jack comes out to try and find you; you're ten minutes late."

He nodded thankfully and walked into the Medical Wing, immediately catching sight of Jack lying down on one of the benches being scanned over by Doctor Chakwas. "Emily," he greeted warmly, and she nodded friendlily back.

"Andy," she returned, "take a table."

He took the one directly to Jack's right, and she reached over to take his hand with a small smile. "How did it go with Liara and Shep?"

"Fantastic," he answered warmly, "simply brilliant."

"Good."

They lay through the good Doctor's various scans in silence, at least until she came over with two injections on a tray. Jack turned her head to look over at him, and gave a small smile. "You die on me and I'll bring you back to life and kick your arse," she threatened, and he gave a chuckle before nodding.

"Same goes for you. I love you."

Her eyes softened and she smiled back as the needle slid into her arm. "I love you too Andy... so much."

Slowly her eyes closed, a small smile left on her face, and Andy turned to look up at Chakwas who was looking down at him; his own needle held in her hand. "Both?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow, and he looked back across at the serenely sleeping woman whose hand he held before looking back to the grey-haired woman above him with a nod.

"Both," he confirmed, and she nodded with a small smile before slipping the needle into his arm. He felt consciousness draining out of him when he unjunctioned the protective measures around his body, and his eyelids slowly began falling; his last sliver of sight that of his lover lying opposite.

And then there was nothing.

**OORAH!**

"Andy, Shepard wants you in the comm room... like, five minutes ago."

The blonde in question stirred from his sleep and blearily looked up at the ceiling, groaning when he saw the numbers 0128 projected onto its surface. "Whatsat?"

"Comm room, now. Shep's getting worried and the Illusive Man's grilling him about you and all this new tech."

That got him awake pretty snappish, and he sat up with a frustrated hiss; gently slipping out of Jack's embrace so as not to wake her. "I knew some little shit would blab to him about it. Jesus, EDI?" The Asian appeared in a hologram beside his dresser and he looked at her; his eyes irritated and his thoughts cursing himself for not thinking about getting rid of any spies earlier. "Find out just who the hell dobbed us in to the Illusive Man, and run diagnostics on all cached transmissions. I want to know who the moles are and what they've said."

"I'm on it," she assured him before disappearing, and Andy wrote a quick note for Jack before walking out of the room; the morphic armour sliding up over his chest before solidifying into his training gear. The moment the doors opened onto the CIC deck he jogged quickly to the communications room and walked in to hear the Illusive Man tearing into Shepard for his reckless actions with the Admiralty Board. Before things could get too heated he stepped into the quantum entangler's scanning field, and the Head of Cerberus immediately snapped his attention to him - a charming smile appearing on his face. "Ah, Andrew, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Rolling his eyes he looked about for a chair, and upon finding none just sat down on the floor. The Illusive Man frowned at the actions, but didn't comment. "I was just asking She-"

"Berating him, it sounded like," he interrupted, and the ex-mercenary sent him a subtle glare.

"No, Andrew, I was simply expressing my concern about the technology he gave the Quarian people. They already have the largest Fleet in the galaxy, and by giving them such advanced machinery it will allow them to become stronger."

"That's... well that's kinda the point," Andrew said after a moment, "you know, with the Reapers and all? Yeah, well we need the galaxy outfitted with the best of the best. The Quarians and we made a deal, whereupon I fixed their immune systems and gave them a planet to colonize, and they would manufacture parts to retrofit onto not only their own ships, but Turian, Asari, and a multitude of other vessels - including the Alliance's."

"And rather than allowing this technology to advance the human race... you give it free of charge to aliens?" questioned Tim, and Andy looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, yes I did. If you think that _just_ humanity can defeat the Reapers then you're barking mad; we need all the help we can get."

Andy watched as a flicker of annoyance jerked at the Illusive Man's features, and stifled a small smirk. "Yes, well I'm afraid that we haven't received any of your designs or retrofits here at Cerberus."

"That's because I never planned on giving you any," Andy replied easily, "you are, after all, a pro-human extremist organization, and giving you the means to advance yourselves, and the firepower to decimate any ship in this galaxy... well that just doesn't bode well for non-humans, whom I have no problem with."

A tick started flickering in the man's temple, and Shepard stepped back, knowing by experience that an annoyed Illusive Man was a dangerous one. "You showed no aptitude for technology upon your arrival here, nor in your training," Tim commented coldly, "and Asari that have been around for twenty, even thirty times longer than you have still haven't achieved what I have reports you have. This technology is too valuable to be shared - don't forget who made you who you are today, Andrew. Give me the plans and codes to your technology and I will let this transgression pass me by."

Andrew gave a smirk. "Ah, so you've discovered the protections I have on all the new technology then? Did you like the self-destruct feature that kicks in as soon as it recognizes a non-designated user?" The look on his face clearly displayed the Illusive Man's feelings on the feature being discussed, and Andy gave a smirk. "No? I thought it was quite ingenious. Of course this means that there's a traitor in the Quarian camp," he surreptitiously gave a glance down at the inside of his right arm and stifled a smile when he saw the blue text 65% flick over to 66%. "We'll find out who they are eventually and alert the Admiralty Board," he assured the man, and Tim glared balefully down at him.

"Andrew, I will give you one warning before acting. You will give me the codes or else there will be serious consequences."

79%, and Andy made a show of thinking before sinking his shoulders and pulling up his Omni-tool. The Illusive Man's eyes widened at its appearance, but hurriedly he brought up his own terminal which bleeped a moment later. The raw excitement in his eyes was palpable, at least until he opened the message and saw one word, capitalized, in reply to his request.

"NO."

A snarl of anger twisted his face, and after a few taps he looked to Andrew expectantly. Shepard looked to Andrew when a small beep issued forth from the blonde's Omni-tool, and watched as he pulled up a window before enlarging it. "Release serum and stimulate obedience centers..." he murmured clearly, and then up at the wide-eyed man."Well that's not very nice now, is it?" Another bleep after some hurried tapping, and Andy's eyebrows rose. "Initiate nervous system overload, far out, I mean I knew you were brutal but this is just a step to far Jack."

A sharp intake of breath met his statement, and he looked lazily up into the shocked eyes of his benefactor. "Yeah, I know who you are Jack Harper, and pretty much everything you've done in your miserable little lifetime. But that's beside the point, isn't it? You thought that I'd be curing Quarians and not have the technological expertise to make sure I was clean? I mean come on Jack, I'm not stupid. I've been feeding you false information from two years after I arrived here, and I soon rewrote the firmware for my implants. Since then I've created my own versions of firmware and imprinted them, so your little bugs and box of tricks was gone a long, long time ago." He stood up from where he was sitting and stared at the Illusive Man; his eyes cold. "And if you think I'd give you _anything_ after what you did to Jack, as in Subject Zero, then you've got another thing coming." A check to his wrist revealed a green tick, and he sneered at Tim. "This conversation is over. EDI, sever the connection." The Illusive Man winked out of existence, and EDI quickly replaced him.

"The Data mine into the isolated system completed with ease," she confirmed, "and we have lists of all their top-secret files, including informants. I have sent a copy as per procedure to all major Fleets. Informants present on the Normandy are as follows: Kelly Chambers, no surprises there; Miranda Lawson, though she has been feeding only false information since the removal of her control implant; Gabriella Daniels, though once more she has been feeding false intelligence; and finally Marcus Grint in engineering. I must confess that I am surprised that the moles are so little in number, but it does make sense and conform to the Illusive Man's stealthy espionage tactics."

Shepard rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave a shake of his head. "It makes sense that he'd have people here informing him. I'm just hacked off that we didn't get them sooner; I could've done without breaking from Cerberus right now."

"That makes two of us," Andrew murmured under his breath, and was about to leave when Shepard grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

Andy looked at the Commander, surprised, but his eyes turned understanding and slightly steely when his actions were explained. "Admiral Hackett contacted me."

After several seconds' thought Andy gave a nod. "That's fine. I was waiting for the AI bodies to be ready, but since that got done last week we're as ready as we're going to get. Might as well set course for Urmola then, and tell Joker to use the wormholes; I don't want to take any chances with this."

"You still haven't told me why there's such a huge fuss about this mission," Shepard protested after a moment, and Andy sat down and gave a small chuckle devoid of humour.

"You're right, and you deserve to know just what kind of shit you're getting yourself into. Doctor Kenson is indoctrinated." Shepard gaped at him, and Andy gave a single bark of laughter, "Oh you think that's bad, just wait. See, she's planning on crashing an asteroid into the Mass Relay situated in the system because they discovered a plot by the Reapers to use it to come through. Smart right? Big question there, Shep, is where that information came from."

"Alliance?" John guessed with a small wince. He knew that it had to be something more unsavory.

Andrew's answer of, "Try a Reaper artifact that they have housed on their facility on the asteroid and you're closer to the mark."

"...Holy shit."

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I first 'foresaw' it."

"That's... you've never really spoken about the whole seeing the future thing."

Andrew tensed, and then let out a small sigh. "I have, just not to you. Jack's the only one who I trust with that information, because if it got torn from your mind there'd be trouble. Jack can protect herself against melds and Reaper indoctrination... you can't. Well you could probably go toe-to-toe against indoctrination, but the melds... not so much." He saw a look of frustration appear on Shepard's face and waved his hand to get his attention, a small smile on his face. "Hey, when the Reapers are dead and gone I'll tell you. Until then I'd rather keep everything between as fewer people as possible - it's not meant as a personal offence."

Shepard gave a rueful smile. "Yeah, I know Andy... it's just this whole war thing's getting to me, ya know? I've been in the Alliance since I was seventeen, N7 at twenty two, and Spectre at twenty six. I've seen shit that most people haven't ever seen, and will never see... things that I wish that _I_ hadn't seen. I've also always been the best, which is maybe why I seem a little cold to you at times. You come out of _nowhere_, like, I've never even heard of you before, and apparently neither had the entire Universe up until around three years ago... and you're kick-ass. Biotics that are through the roof, combat abilities that would make even some N7 soldiers quake in their boots, and just recently knowledge that... well I just can't even get into how incredible that is." He gave a helpless shrug and a small chuckle. "Maybe it's just my ego playing up, but I kinda feel like a third wheel."

Andy stood and punched Shepard in the jaw.

Really, really hard.

The black-haired man slammed into the wall and collapsed to the floor, clutching at his mouth with wide eyes, and looked up to Andy who was almost glaring down at him. "Shepard, shut the fuck up." The man in question, for the second time in just two weeks, was speechless. "You, a third wheel? Give me a fucking break John; that's bullshit and you know it. Without you we'd be _nothing_; none of us would even be here, firstly because Sovereign would've succeeded, but also because you're the center of this whole operation. Yeah, I may take command occasionally; yeah a lot of the crew see you and I as equals; yeah, I've got more cool shit than you," that got a small, but slightly pained smile, "but seriously John, think about what we'd be like without you here. I wouldn't _have_ any of this knowledge, because I would've never met Samara, and by extension Morinth, and through her Otrere; Miranda would still be indoctrinated, and sure as shit wouldn't be in love with Joker; Kenneth and Gabby wouldn't be together; Kar and Tali wouldn't have found one another... Liara wouldn't have the love of her life. You're about as much of a third wheel as I am like Udina, the great prattling bastard."

Shepard gave a small chuckle and took Andy's offered hand; letting himself be helped to his feet as he still massaged his jaw. "Thanks... I think I needed that. You punch me again and I'll have your ass up for insubordination."

"I'm too awesome for that kind of shit," Andy quipped with a grin, and Shepard rolled his eyes, chuckling again.

"Never change Andy."


	11. Arrival

**A/N: Well Mass Effect 3 is finally out, and after finishing it I can safely say that there'd better be a damn alternate ending on the second playthrough as rumoured. My romantic side just isn't damn well happy, nor is my Karma, so tomorrow: 10hrs of gameplay.**

**At least that's my plan. All the same, this story is now ULTRA-AU so there. I do hope you enjoy it all the same - because this story is all fluffy at points. Keep R&R'ing!**

* * *

"Jack, come on, get up."

A feeble moan met his insistent tone, and the arm that usually lay across his chest as they slept flailed about weakly for a couple of seconds before freezing. A rather menacing tone met his ears a moment later. The muffled nature of it ruined the overall effect. "Why aren't you butt-ass naked next to me, Fucker?"

"Mission," he explained as he poured some milk over her favorite cereal. "And since I promised you that next time I was going to face down a Reaper, knowingly at least, I'd bring you along, here we are." He walked over to her as she sat up and blearily rubbed at her eyes, and held out the tray with her breakfast on it. Her irritation lessened when she saw what he'd done, and she sent him a grateful smile before taking it and digging in.

"Thanks," she mumbled around a mouthful, "I wouldn't have put it past you to just leave me here."

"That's why I spiked your cereal with a mild paralysis agent." She froze and slowly looked up at him, and he managed to keep a straight face for five seconds before cracking a grin. "And you think I'm joking." This, of course, triggered a wide-eyed expression from the young woman, and a highly amused young man was treated to wild fluctuations of energy bursting across her skin as she attempted to purge her system of absolutely nothing. Several seconds later, and no paralysis, she slowed her panic and slowly looked up at him; her eyes burning with danger. "Do you know just how fucking hot you look when you're pissed?" he asked casually, and her violent outburst completely derailed in favor of a blush and a coy smile.

"Implying that I might just be a couple of seconds away from 'getting some'?"

"Ah... no, no, with the undertones of an upcoming Reaper battle I'd rather not," he commented airily, and she rolled her eyes with a small smile as she continued eating.

"So what's happening?"

"Hold on a sec," he said, and then tapped away at his Omni-tool. A couple of seconds later a rod in the corner of the room morphed into Izzy, who gave a beaming smile and bounced over to them before jumping on the bed and sitting next to Jack, who gave her a bemused look.

"Heya!" she greeted bubbly, and Jack just stared for a second before shrugging and returning to eating her breakfast. Shrugging herself Izzy turned to Andy with a smile. "What's happening?"

"You're coming on a mission," he explained with a small smile, "though I'm afraid you won't be looking like you during it. In a few minutes we should be arriving in the Bahak System... actually, you know what? Just access the recording of the vid-call between Admiral Hackett and Shepard."

"Ah," she said after barely a millisecond's pause, "so we're saving the Doctor then?"

He gave a small chuckle. "Well... maybe? I don't know. She's indoctrinated, you see, by a Reaper artifact that's in the base where she works. I'm not sure what happens to an indoctrinated person when the object of the indoctrination is destroyed... but we'll be finding out pretty soon. Once we've got her safely off-planet and restrained on board the Normandy you're going to transform into her and then we're going to go to the base. Because your body is completely resistant to indoctrination there won't be a problem, and both Jack and I are immune. The only weak-point is Shepard really, but he's a big boy and he's faced a bonafide Reaper before. When we get within range of the base hack their systems and watch any and all recordings of Kenson so you can properly mimic her personality."

Izzy nodded happily at the plan before a sudden question occurred to her. "Hey, if this body gets... well, killed I suppose, then what happens to me?"

Andy walked over to his personal armoury and flicked through the tubes before plucking the ones he wanted and pressing them to his wrists, whereupon his Morphic Armour immediately activated and spread over his body before seemingly absorbing them into its surface. "Nothing really. You're actually residing within my Omni-tool at the moment, as well as the body. All two, or one when the body isn't in use, are perfectly synchronized... though I thought about it and came to the conclusion that if you think like us... is a copy really you? So I went back through all the revisions and found out which one of you is the 'original'."

She looked almost tearful at his thoughtfulness and gave a small nod and a smile. "I do think like that a lot, actually... and I thought that maybe you wouldn't care because I'm an AI." She jerked forwards and put a hand over his mouth when he moved to speak and shook her head with an apologetic smile to him. "I feel very guilty for thinking that now, and thank you for treating me like... well, me."

He removed her hand and shook his head with a smile. "No problem, Izzy. You're a fantastic friend, which is why I modified your systems. You now reside on _my_ Omni-tool singularly, and Jack's will now act as an extra processing point and data-storage unit should you require it. The body," she pointed to her, "is the interesting part. An avatar of you inhabits it, kind of like a shell so that it still has you appearance, and that 'shell' is bridged to you. The body is simply feeding you every sensation and making you feel as if you are there."

She looked at him for several seconds with a thoughtful look on her face before commenting. In reality, Andy knew, it took only a mere fraction of a nanosecond to process everything and come up with a suitable reply, but appreciated that she wasn't just firing things off as soon as he finished speaking. That could get a little... intense. "Why your Omni-tool? Not that I'm complaining or anything," she corrected before he could come to a wrong conclusion, and he gave her a small chuckle and a shake of his head.

"Fair question," he shot back, "and there's no reason not to tell you. You're on my Omni-tool because I'm selfish." That got an odd look, and he sent the red-head a small smile. "You're a fantastic friend Izzy, and I'd consider one of my best alongside Kar - which is really saying something. Jack's something far more, as you know, but Shepard and the rest are a bit below, including Liara, and that's just because we don't... gel. You; you're fantastically funny yet sensitive; smart; cunning... and great company. If something happens to me then I want you to be with me, just as I want Jack by my side... just in a less romantic way, you understand."

Izzy gave a small smile, and made to answer but was interrupted mid-opening mouth by Shepard's voice over the speakers in the room. "We're in position Andy."

"Give us ten Shepard," Andy interrupted, "in the middle of something pretty important here."

"Rodger, see you down in the Cargo Bay in fifteen then; we're getting a shuttle down."

"Got it Shep."

He turned back to Izzy and nodded encouragingly and she gave a small sigh before looking at him imploringly. "You know I really care for you, right?" He nodded, and she gave another sigh. "What you did, with the original me... that was really sweet, but, well, this kind of ruins it. You didn't ask me what _I_ wanted, and... well Andy, I've found somebody. If you go somewhere... if something happens to you... just like you want Jack..." she trailed off, a slightly pained look on her face, though that froze when she saw the cheeky grin on her creator's face.

"I was wondering how long it was going to be before you told us," he admitted, and she turned to see Jack giving her the same cheeky look. "Jack and I noticed your body-rod disappearing pretty quickly... and many a time it was at the very same time EDI's was gone as well. A little bit of snooping over the video cameras uncovered you and her in the middle of kissing underneath the Engineering Deck," Izzy blushed a bright red, "and so we knew." He saw her extreme embarrassment and leaned over before tapping her knee to get her attention. She looked up, and was surprised but overjoyed to see an accepting and encouraging smile on his lips, as well as Jack's. "You're not an AI, Izzy, you're a person. You've found love, and neither Jack nor I care that it's with another woman. Now that you can physically express it you want to share yourself with EDI - and Jack and I can understand the want and need to be physically close. I knew what you wanted without asking... but I'll ask you now if you approve. I've already grilled EDI on the matter, and she's agreed, but I refuse to do anything in a final capacity without your say so. EDI's original is hosted on Jack's Omni-tool, just as you are on mine. If there's ever a situation where something happens to me, Jack will be by my side, and by extension EDI will be by yours." Izzy's eyes had started glistening, and a moment later she was engulfed in a hug by the recently-solidified EDI. The redhead quickly broke down into happy tears, and EDI looked up at the two from the couch with a wide smile filled with thanks and happiness.

"Thank you," she mouthed silently, and both sent the Asian woman a smile and a nod before Jack joined her boyfriend in standing; both heading for the door after a moment.

Turning his head over his shoulder he waved Izzy down when she made to stand. "We'll call you when we arrive back here with the good Doctor. Until then celebrate with your loves." Both blushed at the address, but dual smiles of happiness met his statement. He would never forget the image that was burned into his mind as the doors closed behind them to give the two... lovers some privacy. Both had their foreheads pressed against the other, and tear-tracks rolled down their cheeks. Their smiles were radiant, and EDI's crimson eyes burned passionately into Izzy's amber with an emotion that could never be mistaken for anything else than what it truly was; utter, completely devoted love.

It was one of the most beautiful things either Jack or Andrew had ever seen.

As they walked towards the airlock Jack turned to him and shook her head with a small smile. "Do I look like that when we're together?"

He gave a small chuckle and nodded. "Yeah, you do. Like that time a week ago... I wish I'd had that captured on my Omni-tool. I have no doubt that I would've found it even more beautiful than what we just saw."

"I-" she paused and then took in a deep breath before letting it shakily out as the doors of the elevator closed and Andy punched the button for the Cargo Hold. For once she was happy it travelled so slowly. "I know you've said I'm beautiful... and when you look at me I know that I see love and desire... but am I _really_ as beautiful as people like, I don't know, Miranda? Or even Kelly?"

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Truthfully, no, you're not." He saw her face fall and he pulled her into a hug before giving a smile. "Of course I'm going by general standards here, not my own. Most people, Jack, would say that your tattoos are a serious turn off, that your scars are ugly, and that your attitude is coarse, unfriendly, and very unfeminine. That and they'd say that your breasts are too small." He kissed the top of her head and quickly halted the doors of the elevator before they could open and reveal their intimate position to the Cargo Bay. "But really, come on, look at me." She reluctantly me his eyes and found herself unable to break away. "You're perfect, absolutely perfect, or at the very least as close as can be in this messed up universe. Your tattoos all have a story; your scars show the hardships you've fought through and survived; and your attitude is refreshingly unhesitant; and damn it, you're one of the most feminine women I've ever seen when you want to be. To be honest, I'm glad you're rough around the edges - because I know that I don't have to look over my shoulder ever couple of seconds to make sure you're safe. I know you can look after yourself... and that's something I really want in a woman. You don't take shit either; if you disagree with something I say then I damn well know about it." A small smile flashed over her face, and he pulled back before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips and smiling at her. "I hope it's enough, Jack, but you're beautiful, infinitely more so than Miranda or Kelly... or anybody else I've ever met - even more than that girl back in my time. I wouldn't trade what we have for _anything_, Jack... and your breasts," both of them blushed but he still continued. "they're perfect too. They fit in my hands as if they were made for me." She blushed a bright red and he sent her a nervous smile. "I hope I wasn't being too forward or anything Jack, but I wanted you to know exactly what I thought. You may not be perfect to most people, Jack, but does it really matter? You're perfect to me."

Her blush had lessened, and a warm smile spread over her face, though it was tentative, and more than a little shy. "Are you sure?"

He kissed her again, and it quickly morphed to something far more than what either of them had ever felt before. When they finally broke away from each other's lips both had glazed expressions and wide smiles on their faces. Andy gave a nod after a moment and rested his head against his forehead. He knew that if he was a third person looking in on the feelings that were literally swarming around each other he'd be entranced. '_Scratch that,'_ he thought as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, _'I'm still entranced.'_ "Yeah, I'm sure Jack." She beamed up at him and planted a firm, almost desperate kiss on his lips, and he returned it with equal fervor. She broke away with an almost apologetic smile, but it was filled with hope and wonder. "Soon, Andy... I know it's taken years, but I'll be ready soon."

He nodded with a small smile and then shook his head. "However long it takes Jack, and I know this sounds like a bad line out of a romance movie, I'll be waiting." He reactivated the lift and they headed down towards the Cargo Hold with matching smiles of acceptance and renewed love. Andy thought it sounded like the most clichéd and cheesy line he'd ever heard, and yet that fact made it no less true. Just before the doors opened, for once both considered wonderfully slowly, they shared one last passionate kiss filled with promise and expectation before Jack leant her head against Andrew's and smiled lightly. The doors opened, and Shepard saw them both in their intimate position; blushing and turning away, feeling as if he was intruding upon a private moment.

He was.

"Don't die."

Andy smiled and rubbed his nose affectionately against hers. "You too Jack." They both broke apart, albeit reluctantly, to see Shepard looking away blushing in embarrassment, and Andy broke the ice by grinning and walking towards the nervous man. "What, haven't you seen two lovers together before," he teased, "I thought your experiences with Liara would have you accustomed to the sight."

"It's different," he argued vehemently as he walked slowly towards the shuttle, "what you two share... it's beyond what any of us can comprehend. It's as if you know what the other is thinking all the time; know when to push and when to hold back... nobody, from what I've heard, has that."

"We have out arguments," Andy argued back, and Shepard shook his head with a grin before closing the door behind them.

"Really? I bet yours only last minutes after you learned to drop your protections around each other." Their silence was his answer, and he gave a small shake of his head with a smile accompanying it. "Nobody has what you two have, which makes every moment you spend together seem... well, almost sexual, or at least on the same level. It's why a lot of us feel embarrassed around you two; you share something almost as intimate as sex... and that's just when you're around each other normally. It's unnerving for most of us," he frowned, "although it doesn't make us like you any less," he added before they could come up with a different conclusion, and they both smiled before shaking their heads, although Jack noticeably more shyly than her lover.

"I... we never really talked about it," she admitted as the shuttle lifted off, "until the elevator. I think we know that we share something that other's don't... but I..."

Shepard interrupted her before she could reveal any more and shook his head. "It's between you two," he explained, "and all of us realize that you share a connection we can't fathom. It sounds odd, weird, whatever else you want to call it, but it's true. You don't need to explain to us."

Jack looked slightly sheepish while Andy sent Shepard a warm and friendly smile. "Thanks."

The Spectre gave a small nod of acceptance. "Not a problem." The three looked out the window to peer at the approaching planet and John raised an eyebrow. "Any plans?"

"Stealth," Andy said without pause, "is the best option in this case. The Batarians are pretty communicative, so if we nail one then the others'll know something's wrong pretty quickly. We should set a number of traps just in case they try to stop us though." Jack and Shepard nodded in agreement, and they all turned their heads back towards the rapidly approaching planet. "Kinda pretty, but the whole Batarian army base thing kinda detracts from that a little bit." He stared at the atmosphere for several seconds before speaking again. "Now I'm not a xenophobe, and there's probably some Batarians that don't agree with slavery... but I really fucking hate the bastards."

"Seconded," threw in Shepard, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder in surprise. "Batarian Blitz," he explained with a venomous expression on his face, and Andy's lips formed into an O-shape.

"Ah, yeah... I can see why that'd make you hate them."

Jack simply stayed quiet; it was silently accepted that she agreed with Andy as she hadn't voiced her opinion. "Coming up to the landing site," the flight AI affirmed, "AA weaponry online, initiating stealth countermeasures."

"Visual as well, thank you Sandy," Andy said with a small smile, and the voice that came back had a small warmth to it.

He was sure the AI was smiling herself. "Aye Creator Andrew, initiating all countermeasures."

He waved the voice off with a grin, "Ah, forget the formalities; we're all friends here."

Jack just shook her head with a small smile. "Never change, Andy."

"That's my line," complained Shepard before turning to Andy looking for support; his eyebrows raised. "Right? Tell her, that's totally my line."

"Shep?" The man leant forward looking expectant and somewhat triumphant, and Andy shook his head ruefully. "Grow up."

As Jack chuckled, Shepard sulked, and Andy rolled his eyes, the latter was comparing the Commander to a child. "Kid in a big boy's body," he muttered under his breath, though Jack caught his comment and held in a snort of laughter. As they approached the landing zone however, they all sobered up and upon landing quickly departed the nearly invisible UT-47 before ducking into cover; their armour providing adaptive camouflage by projecting the image behind them to their fronts; essentially making them seem transparent. When they were still they were essentially invisible. Andy quickly accessed all their suits and set them to stealth, and then watched as a series of icons appeared on his HUD as his armour linked to Jack and Shepard's. They were seeing exactly what he was at that moment, and a whistle of appreciation came from the Commander himself, at least until Jack punched him on the shoulder and hissed a baleful "SHHHHHHH!" at him. Andy gave a chuckle and spoke at normal volume, despite the fact that there was a Batarian guard right above them on a landing. "It's alright; the suits are isolating sounds. You could scream bloody murder and they wouldn't hear you, so despite the fact that this is a stealth mission, don't worry about sneezing and giving us away, or stubbing your toe and swearing... because the only ones that are going to hear that is us."

He peered out from underneath the stairs and took a look around; to everybody but Andy and Jack a simple blur to the air appearing... had anybody been present to see. "Likewise," he commented, "we can all see each other fine; however the guards will be catching our active camouflage. Now despite the fact that it would be oh-so-lovely running around and killing Batarians, as these are the ones that I fucking hate, slaving bastards, we need to do this quickly, which means stealthily and using the fastest route possible."

Both Shepard and Jack shuddered at the cheeky look on the blonde's face, and several minutes later knew why it had been there in the first place. Shepard especially was bent over at the waist; his hands on his knees as he heaved in deep breaths. "That... you... you're bloody insane!"

Jack was faring far better, having used a lighter version of the exercise and training regime that Andy did, but was still panting with effort; beads of sweat running down the back of her neck before quickly being absorbed by the suit for energy, and to prevent any discomfort. The two quickly cooled down as the suits vented the excess heat, and Andy shook his head with a small smile. "I'm not insane Shepard; I'm just damn good." Ignoring the deadpan expression on the man's face he turned to the building in front of them and then nodded when he saw his HUD suddenly show a recognized match on Doctor Kenson via the airborne nanobots he'd sent out. "She's in there, but we're not getting in easy. Seems that they've beefed up security; guards at every doorway and patrolling the corridors. Knives, I think, would be appropriate."

He flicked his wrist, bringing the tube to bear, and within a mere fraction of a second a brutal looking blade rested in his hand. Andy saw the look of jealousy on Jack's face and gave a chuckle before throwing her a second cylinder, which, upon her touch, quickly transformed into a blade identical to his. She beamed at him and blew a kiss, and he gave a chuckle before raising his eyebrow at Shepard and wiggling a third cylinder between his fingers. Shepard shook his head and flicked his own wrist, a smaller blade quickly making an appearance. "I'm used to this one," he explained, "and it's served me well."

Andy shrugged and the metallic tube sunk back into his suit. "Fair enough. Track knives for squad."

Both Jack and John's eyes widened when all their blades suddenly lit up a bright blue - nowhere near blinding, but still highly visible, and Andy begun walking into the complex as he explained. "Only we can see that," he assured them, "it's just so we always know where each other's arch of attack is and don't end up walking into a nice, friendly stab." A Batarian suddenly walked around the corner and froze; his eyes widening in shock when it saw the distortions, and Andy quickly broke into a sprint before running up the wall, landing behind the soldier, and then slicing his throat before jerking forwards and stabbing the guard's partner dead-center in the forehead with a fluid motion. Pulling his blade free he turned back to Jack and Shepard and gave a small grin. "Well come on then."

Shepard, in the following ten minutes, tried valiantly to outshine Andy's earlier attack.

The closest he got was misjudging the distance to a ledge, jumping, and then falling down a storey where he landed right on top of a Batarian and accidently stabbed him in the neck. It would have been awesome had it been planned, but the, "Oh shit!" as he fell and the, "Ouch! Goddamn, man I'm glad that Batarian stopped my fall... a Batar- HEY DID YOU SEE HOW AWESOME THAT SHIT WAS?" made doubly sure that the only two people that cared knew very well that it was a pure accident. They finally happened upon the cell in which Doctor Kenson was being interrogated, though there was no... thing coming towards her face as it had been in the game. _'Must be early_', Andy mused as he disabled the guards outside of the small room. "Iz?"

A moment later a small terminal opened up on the upper right of his HUD and a smiling Izzy and EDI were waving at him. "What'd ya need?"

"If I hook you into the local systems do you reckon you can corrupt the alarm system? I'd rather forego a firefight if the little bastard in there manages to get finger to button."

Izzy just gave a roll of her eyes. "Does the pope shit in the woods?"

She got a small glower from EDI for that. "Language, Iz."

The redhead lowered her head in embarrassment before murmuring a small, "Sorry," and Andy gave a chuckle before jacking into the local systems. Less than a second later EDI gave a nod and came out of her glazed expression before sending him a small smile. "Done, you're safe."

He nodded thankfully to the dark-haired woman and closed the connection, and was about to walk in when he froze and turned to Jack with a raised eyebrow. "Would you like to do the honors?" Her eyes lit up and Andy grinned before turning to Shepard. "You mind if she has her fun?"

Raising his hands and giving a chuckle John shook his head. "By all means, go for it."

"He'll be able to see you," Andy warned, motioning to the guard grilling the Doctor inside, "I've had to disable all the noticeably advanced tech just in case Kenson has an implant or something that can transmit information."

Jack just gave a wide, bloodthirsty grin and cracked her knuckles. "Perfect."

Three minutes later, with Shepard wincing every few seconds and Andy looking on with small chuckles, Jack had reduced the Batarian interrogator to tears; both his legs broken, and two of his eyes missing for, "staring at me funny" as Jack had put it. Andy had felt really bad about laughing at the following line of, "Well it's not like you can't see any more, is it? God, if your, what, fifty nostrils, are anything to go by I could pluck out ten more and still have some to go 'round," but after hearing the soldier admit to 'using' the 'product' that came through every once in a while he actually felt quite happy with the arrangement. This bastard was one of the men that not only supported the slaving on humans, but also raped women. He had considered Jack to be quite merciful leaving him alive, at least until he saw that she'd injected some nanobots into his bloodstream through one of her punches and had set them to electrocute. Of course electrocution needed copious amounts of energy, however by breaking down the Batarian's body the tech could quite easily sustain such a thing. Being eaten alive to fuel your torture... brutal, but in Andy's mind no less than the bastard deserved. Although Shepard looked slightly queasy, his approving nod and small smile told both Jack and Andy that he agreed with the punishment just as much as they did.

Doctor Kenson, on the other hand, _had_ been sick, and was looking at Jack like she was the devil itself. Apparently being indoctrinated didn't stop one from feeling fear from another source. Andy and Shepard moved into the room to join Jack when the Batarian had stopped twitching and screaming, and watched with slight interest as the body seemed to shrink, just like an ice cube, though without any leftover residue. Andy was the only one that noticed Jack's gloves become thicker and more solid as the body disintegrated and the nanobots returned to her suit. "Doctor Kenson?"

Her head snapped away from the morbidly atomizing body and locked onto Shepard, and her eyes widened when she recognized him. "Commander Shepard... Hackett sent you?" She received a nod in return and she let out a nervous laugh as Jack stepped away from her victim to stand at Andy's side. "Interesting company you keep, Commander."

"That supposed to mean anything?" Andy questioned lightly, though everybody could hear the threat veiled thinly in his tone.

Her reply was an almost violent shaking head. "No, no, nothing like that," she hurriedly lied through her teeth, "just commenting on the... interesting way your squad mate dealt with the threat. I've never seen anything like it before."

"No, I doubt you have," Jack shot back, and got a small glare in return before the woman was cowed by the return glare that made her want to run away in fear. Once again it was one of the things both Andy and Jack could do by vaguely simulating the senses of others via their biotics. It could be used to divert attention, give trust, harbor aggression... or in this case, scare an offensive, indoctrinated woman positively senseless. Shepard gave the two a mild glare, but the two met it easily. The message was clear: we don't let each other get insulted. Shepard gave after a moment and had the thought that if the two were in the Alliance they'd have been dishonorably discharged for insubordination the second they stepped on deck.

"Doctor Kenson, we need to get you out of here and back to your base of operations."

They grey-haired woman gave a sharp nod of agreement, and Andy watched carefully as a glassy look passed through her eyes - just for a moment mind, but it was definitely there. "Of course, then let's get on our way."

Thirty minutes later the doctor was regretting seeming so eager to get back to her base, because she was dripping with sweat and very nearly dead on her feet. The reason was that Andy had decided that the best way out was the way they had come in, and while Shepard and Jack were okay as they'd been travelling at a reduced pace... it was apparent that Kenson wasn't used to strenuous activity. Andy had sent some of his suit's nanobots to cover the Doctor's eyes so that she could see the Drop Shuttle when it arrived and wouldn't think anything amiss, and quickly communicated with Sandy who projected a false image onto the windows that made it seem as though they were on course towards the Arrival Project. Although Shepard already knew about what was happening he still grilled Amanda on what was going on, and Andy fell into a small daydream as she said things that he already knew. They finally arrived in the Cargo Bay of the Normandy, and Andy stood up before cracking the hilt of his knife into their prisoner's head. She fell to the ground unconscious and Shepard sent Andy a raised eyebrow as he moved to take her arms, and Jack her feet. "Was that really necessary?"

"I didn't punch her for her condescending tone towards Jack before, so that was my chance. Retribution taken."

Jack obviously appreciated the gesture because she smiled and leant over the unconscious body to kiss him. Shepard just shook his head in despair as the side door opened and the pair carried the Doctor to... the Doctor. Chakwas met them by the elevator, as did Izzy and EDI, and looked her new charge over, frowning when she saw the rapidly raising lump on her forehead. She didn't even need to guess just who'd done that, and so turned her eyes to Andy, who was whistling a jaunty tune whilst looking eagerly around the Cargo Hold as if he'd never seen it before. She rolled her eyes and rolled the unconscious woman onto the stretcher she'd brought down, and then left the five standing alone. Izzy gave a chaste kiss to EDI's lips before morphing into a mirror-perfect image of Doctor Kenson, and Andy gave her a smile. "Top work. You got the voice patterns from the conversation we had with her on the way?"

"I did," she confirmed, sounding precisely like the woman in question, and Jack gave a small shudder.

"That's fuckin' weird, you being able to do that."

The grey-haired woman turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Just like it's weird that you can crush starships with your mind?"

Jack was silent for a moment before shrugging and walking back to the Kodiak. "Fair point."

Rolling her eyes Izzy gave one last smile to her girlfriend before joining Andy and Shepard in walking to their ship. Several seconds later they were floating back out into space, and with a small jerk were headed quickly towards the Arrival Project to make up for lost time, as Kenson had contacted her team before they had knocked her out. The new thrusters easily got them there within the limited time they had to not arouse suspicion, and the second they stepped out of the shuttle Izzy stilled for precisely four seconds as she analyzed all the video files she was mining from the Project's systems. Immediately her posture changed to reflect the Kenson she was seeing in the footage, and then she turned back to her three companions before smiling tersely. If Andy hadn't known it, he wouldn't think the woman in front of him was anybody other than the genuine article. "We'd best hurry; we need to get the project online."

They progressed through the station much as in the game, albeit getting noticeably indoctrinated expressions from many of the workers; something too minute for Bioware to have thought of, and Andy started tensing as he felt pressure building against his mental shields. He looked over to Jack and got a small nod in return, silently telling him that she was feeling the same, and Shepard had an odd look on his face - one of distaste and annoyance. He seemed to be battling off the influence well enough. Andy leant close to 'Kenson' and whispered lowly, "Send out a message to all colonies in the Bahak System right now with an evacuate order. Make it seem like it came from the Hegemony to avoid any suspicion on their part. Say something along the lines of an asteroid is inevitably going to impact into the Mass Relay and all people are ordered to evacuate immediately without any attempts to attack the asteroid, as they don't want to accidentally speed it up or something."

The disguised Izzy gave a sharp nod and closed her eyes for a moment, and without looking at him she gave a small nod; silently telling him that the communication was successful. They came to the room holding Object Rho and Shepard's eyes widened before looking at her with wide eyes. "That's not good Kenson, that's _really_ not good."

She gave him a small smile. "See for yourself the message it sends," she encouraged, and Shepard took a step forwards, at least until Andy held him back with a shake of his head. "You don't want to see that," he whispered before silently giving a small nod to Kenson who quickly turned to all the waiting workers with a glassy smile as she held her arms out.

"The arrival is coming, my friends. Evacuate this base and I will make sure that this asteroid is directed well away from the Alpha Relay."

The imposters all held their breaths in wait of the indoctrinated followers' reactions, and breathed out in relief when they all nodded dazedly and headed out of the massive room in which the thrumming, alien Reaper artifact pulsed with dark energy - presumably to the escape pods. "Well that was nerve wracking," Shepard murmured after a moment, swiping his hand over his brow, and his three companions nodded before turning back to look at their enemy, and then to the countdown which clearly stated 06:14:48:11. "That's... well that's longer than I suspected."

Andy felt a twinge in the energy around them and gave a frown as he stared at the object in front of them. "Yeah, but I don't want to risk anything - I want this relay dead as fast as possible. The Alpha Relay gives the Reapers unfettered access to virtually all the other relays... and that's not good. We're a ways out from the Relay, so if we start the project now then the asteroid should hit it in around four hours; plenty of time to data-mine all the systems and take a look around while the system gets evacuated."

Looking around at his teammates and lover he received agreeable nods and a shrug from Shepard. "Sounds good to me." Izzy, who had already accessed the systems, quickly activated the project once all the personnel had evacuated and were thus unable to stop them, and they all stumbled slightly as the huge booster rockets attached to the rock activated and blasted them towards the Mass Relay. Andy and Jack had the shared thought that the followers of Rho must be freaking the fuck out right at that moment, as it was quite clear that their trajectory was not _away_ from the Relay as 'Kenson' had promised. Izzy quickly reformed back into her real form and the four made their way to the upper story whilst conversing pleasantly as she data-mined the complex; sharing some drinks and a couple of old war stories... at least until Jack twitched and Andy launched to his feet around six hours after their arrival - no pun intended. The blonde had a dark and worried look on his face, and Shepard followed his eyes to look at the approaching relay... that was now a dark red in color. Shepard pointed to it and cocked his head. "That's... that's not normal, is it?"

"No," Andy muttered as he made a beeline for the route out to the communication's tower; his HUD providing arrows along the floor to guide him, "it most certainly isn't. Come on, we need to get outside right now."

Izzy, who was just finishing locking all the interfaces and causing overloads to independent systems to prevent any change of course, quickly hurried behind the group as they jogged to the doors that would lead them out to the Communications Tower. All of their suits shot up over their heads to protect them from the harsh vacuum that waited outside the airlock, and with a hiss they opened and the four ventured out into the eerie silence of space; the only sounds being each other's breathing over the comms channel. The two rotating circles inside the Mass Relay were speeding up, and Andy turned his head over his shoulder for a moment to make sure he had their attention as they ran towards the flat deck that surrounded and gave aerial access to the tower. "If I'm right in what I'm thinking, and I think I am, a Reaper's about to come through that thing. I don't know why the hell it's come through early, but it is. You two," he motioned to Shepard and Izzy, "stay right beside Jack and me. If this thing's a scout then if it manages to get a message off to its brethren then Jack and I will not only have to destroy it, but we'll need to blast this Asteroid with our biotics to pull it faster towards the Mass Relay. That, unfortunately, means that we'll be free-floating in space and you'll be relying on Jack and I to protect you from a blast with the power to wipe out an entire solar system."

Shepard's face paled, and Izzy looked unwell. Andy looked to his lover who was in-step beside him, and received a small, sharp nod in return to his unasked question. "We can fucking do this Andy. With these amps we can do it."

She was referring to the amps they now possessed instead of their implants; the amps that the Protheans had created for unleashed biotics like him and her. They were hidden at the base of their skulls, and although it had required an entire rewrite of the operating systems governing their Omni-tools, and other enhancements, simply the latent power thresholds were more than enough to justify the work needed to get them operational and able to work with the rest of their equipment. They weren't completely finished, but the young merc hoped they would do. Andy didn't break her stare for several seconds, but finally gave a nod and a small smile as they came to stand on the landing. Their view of the Alpha Relay was unhindered, and daunting. The sheer energy coming off the construct was overwhelming, and they watched the two concentric circles spin faster and faster until, with a visible shockwave of energy, its traveller emerged. Despite the distance the ship was from them it was scarily huge. It made straight for their position the moment it appeared, and Jack and Andrew faced forwards towards it; Shepard and Izzy crouched down behind the pair with matching looks of worry. Turning to her lover Jack gave a nod of readiness, and Andy took in a deep breath before gently rousing his biotics to the surface. The second Jack felt the waves of energy she released her own, and it took mere milliseconds for the two sources to synchronize and accept working together as if it was completely natural, despite the fact that such a thing was theoretically impossible. Waves of blue spread out from the pair before darkening into a dark navy and then a violent maelstrom of black, and Shepard and Izzy's eyes widened at the power they were feeling thrumming around them. They knew full well that if they weren't engulfed in the protective envelope of the biotics they would have been ripped to shreds, and as it was the edges of the corona of energy showed the effects of the dark matter. Wisps of pure elemental dust washed over the dome-like wall of black; sparking occasionally as the objects of its destruction were torn apart into smaller and smaller units of mass; right down to their basic forms.

As the Reaper neared the energy grew stronger, and both Izzy and Shepard could see the slight strain on the two biotics' faces as they poured more and more energy into the charging orb of energy. Andy saw the gaps between the segments of armour slowly begin charging with their own energy, and his eyes widened before he whipped his head to look at Jack. "It's preparing to transmit," he yelled over the din of their biotics swirling around them, despite the aural protections of their suits, "we need to kill it before it gets the message off!"

She nodded grimly and pushed harder, just as he was, and both could feel the sweat pouring off them as they prepared for the inevitable action their biotics would take. They didn't need to speak to coordinate their actions; the thrumming power of each other's biotics and the complete unity between them allowed their messages to be passed along wordlessly. The ball of energy slowly shrank around the group until it was condensed to an almost a ten meter thick dome around them; the walls of black energy nearly touching their bodies. Izzy was recording the entire scene with wide eyes and a slightly slack jaw as arching bolts or pure black power ripped off the surface of the shield; tearing across the vacuum of space in an attempt to wreak destruction upon the machine of galactic genocide. The two faced down across the void, and then suddenly a huge bolt of the black lightning burst forth from their protective dome; easily as thick as the entire Communications Tower. It surged towards its target and hit with an almost anti-climatical result. A small flicker of darkness surged over the armour of the great starship, and then nothing for several seconds. Everything seemed to still, waiting for the climax, and it came as suddenly as the bolt of lightning had appeared. A film of darkness surged over the Reaper with unrelenting speed, and then seemed to ripple before sinking inwards; crushing the harbinger of cycles past. The huge construct seemed to convulse underneath the pressure, and had air been around them both Shepard and Izzy were sure that the huge machine would have been screeching in anger and protest - just as it had done on Omega. "COME ON!" Andy roared with fire lit in his eyes, "JUST DIE!"

Jack's arms were taught as they were held out in front of her, and their Morphic Armour had receded back to mid-arm so as not to be decimated by the forces forming and releasing from their fingertips; the black-energy sheathing present over their skin easily preventing the harsh vacuum of space from tearing at its comanders' arms. Both fell to their knees at the same time as the effort pulled more energy, and with a jerk the Old Machine seemed to crunch in on itself, but not before pulsing once and releasing a jet of fluorescent purple energy out of it. Andy let out a yell of frustration as he saw the Scout get off its message to the rest of its kind, and with a burst of anger crushed it absolutely; reducing it to the size of a mere pin-head, which quickly imploded upon itself as all the atoms' nuclei were forced to merge together. A shockwave quickly burst forth, and washed over the Asteroid on which they stood; tearing the facility apart and ripping up chunks of rock the size of the Normandy before flinging them off into space.

But Jack and Andy weren't yet done, and with a dual roar of exertion blasted off the surface of the asteroid. The force with which they did so was indescribable, and as they rocketed off into the void, the asteroid gained momentum in the exact opposite direction; right into the path of the Mass Relay. Panting with exertion the pair held the still-ten meter thick dome of energy around them; the very fabric of reality dilating around it and preventing the sudden increase from zero kilometers per hour to something approaching one hundred thousand from splattering them all over the inside of their shield. They all watched the rapidly shrinking asteroid crash into the Mass Relay, and then winced away when, after several seconds of stillness, a light as bright as a hundred suns blasted throughout the entire system. Their suits immediately sealed off their visuals, and so Andrew and Jack waited; their biotics strengthened to the utmost they could manage against the inevitable collision between them and the wave of destruction wrought by the death of the Relay. When it hit over five meters of their protections were immediately sheared off the outer shell of the dome, and Andy nearly vomited at the backlash the ripping into his energies provided. Jack collapsed into his side for support as she let out a whimper of pain, but they held firm against the onslaught of the explosion that was atomizing an entire star system.

Their dome was riding the fringe of the explosion and both of the biotics felt their consciousnesses slipping away. "No," Jack murmured before jabbing her lover forcefully in the ribs, and he groaned in pain but grasped quickly onto the sharpness it provided him. He quickly returned the favor, cracking a rib he was sure with the force of it, but the yelp of very aware pain reassured him that she was alert once more. They held onto their shield with as much energy as they could muster, occasionally injuring the other when they noticed the fatigue about to take its toll and render them unconscious, and were buffeted by the destruction as they rode the crest of it. Izzy had transmitted their location as soon as they had cleared the lethal field of light; nearly two and a half billion kilometers away from where they had been when they had begun their flight from the ball of destruction just over two hours ago, and hurriedly told the two biotics what she had done. They nodded and tiredly slowed their momentum so that they were floating stagnant in space, and then dropped the barrier; allowing their suits to take over the protections against the vacuum. Andy gave a small chuckle and gently hugged Jack to his side as they floated softly; mindful of her injuries due to him, and his due to her, and slowly allowed blackness to engulf his vision.

The Universe was safe again, if only for a small margin of time.

* * *

"Mmmm..."

Andrew White gave a groan as consciousness slowly came back to him; like swimming up from the murky depths of a lake. When he finally opened his eyes he was surprised, but happy to see that a light wasn't getting itself intimately acquainted with his corneas; only a cool dim greyness meeting his eyes. Turning his head he looked to the side and gave a small smile when he saw Jack sleeping soundly next to him on their bed.

"You've been out for a while."

Andy gave a chuckle as he turned his head over to his other side and looked into the amused, but slightly relieved face of John Shepard. He'd sensed the man even before he'd spoken. "I'm not surprised; not every day I get to kill a Reaper, destroy a Mass Relay, and then ride the crest of the resulting explosion for a couple of hours." Shepard had to give him that. Andy quickly cycled through his Omni-tool with muttered voice commands so he didn't disturb Jack's slumber with movement, and after a couple of minutes' quick reading was caught up on events and times. "Nearly two whole days... man, I've really got to get our Amps calibrated right." He froze after a moment and turned his head over to Shepard - his eyebrow raised. "Did I just sound like Garrus?"

Shaking his head with a small smile Shepard gave a chuckle. "We're making our way to a derelict Reaper to get-"

"The IFF. I'm aware. Unfortunately it'll probably not be needed, because the Collectors are going to be pissed because the Reapers are pissed. That's three of their number that we've killed now, well you and your team killed one before I came along, but that's beside the point. They see us as a huge threat right now, so I think they'll come to us." Shepard looked perturbed. "But we still need to go to the Reaper. Hopefully, if my meddling in the timeline hasn't screwed everything to complete buggery, we have another crew member to recruit there."

That got a look of interest. "I was unaware we would be recruiting anymore."

"Well you wouldn't," Andy grinned back, "considering the Illusive Man hates our guts right now and wouldn't send any more dossiers, but even if we weren't estranged he wouldn't know about this one. It's a Geth, if you can believe it, and before you go on about how I'm mental it's different. All the Geth you've been shooting up are a faction of their race called the Heretics. The Geth we'll be meeting and bringing aboard is part of the faction that wasn't indoctrinated by the Reapers... and they're a little more intelligent-seeming, as well as on our side. From what I can gather, at least."

"That hardly fills me with confidence."

"It wasn't supposed to. I only knew so far into the future and then things cut off. The way things were going you'd get the IFF, go through the Relay, destroy the Collector Base, which is housing a Human Reaper by the way - don't even go into that," he warned before Shepard could ask his questions, "you probably don't want to know, and then depending on your actions you'd break from Cerberus. Then, presuming everybody survived, you'd be grounded because of your involvement with the Arrival Project - where you _wouldn't_ have had the time to evacuate the System - and stuck on Earth pending an enquiry. And _then_ the Reapers would attack." By this point Shepard's eyes were wide with shock and stunned horror, and Andy shrugged with an uneasy chuckle. "Yeah... but you see now we've got bigger problems, to an extent. We've broken from Cerberus early... in a rather volatile manner, my fault I confess; the Collectors will be coming damn soon... all of them; and the Reapers, because that fucking tin can got a message off before we managed to destroy it, will be coming early too. And they know that Jack and I can crush them singlehandedly."

"Damn fucking right." Andy turned his head, looked across at his slowly rousing bedmate, and smiled. She gave a small groan, just as he had upon wakening, and then shuffled closer to his side and hugged him across the chest; simply lying there in that position - her head resting on his shoulder. "What's going on? I caught the last bit but not the rest." Andy quickly brought her up to speed and by the end of it she was very much alert. "Well fuck... that kinda sucks. How long before everybody's ready?"

"A month, maybe a little bit more," the blonde confessed uneasily. "I still have to get in contact with the Council to provide them with the evidence they need about the Reapers, and then get it through their thick skulls that letting their fleets be retrofitted with technology I, and by extension you and Shepard, have penultimate control over is a good idea and the only way to survive this attack."

"Good luck with that," chirped the Savior of the Citadel helpfully, and Andy shot him a glare.

"Yeah, fuck you too John, God, like a fucking child I swear!"

The pout received in response did very little to raise the biotic's opinion of the man.

Shaking his head after a moment and muttering, "This is why we can't have nice things," Andy called up Izzy, who popped up above his arm with EDI at her side - both with beaming smiles upon seeing their faces. "Andy! Jack! Hey, you're finally awake! How're ya feeling?"

Jack gave the hologram a small smile. "Feel pretty good right now, but I know that as soon as I fucking move I'm gonna feel like shit. Fucker here being my pillow's my only saving grace otherwise I'd be walking around the ship chewing the fuck out of anybody I saw."

Izzy sent the biotic a simpering smile. "I see you're back to normal."

"Fuck you."

EDI chose that moment to step in in order to stop the children's spat that was about to blow out. "And you Andy? How are you feeling?"

He shrugged, and then gave a small wince as he felt some taught muscles complain. "I would've said fine before I did that... but I have a feeling I'll be needing to execute a few massage programs on my Morphic Armour before the end of the day. I hope we didn't worry you too much EDI; I kinda forgot your original is housed on Jack's Omni-tool."

The Asian woman shook her head with a small smile. "I was right where I wanted to be. If Iz died there then I'd die too." That got an understanding look from Andy, Jack, and Shepard, while Izzy looked a little bit teary eyed and hugged her tighter. "And I decided to change my name to Ellie Norman by the way. It makes me feel... less like a machine. I know Izzy has the last name Kronos, after you; the man that created her, so I kinda did the same."

The response was all three of them smiling, and Shepard stood up. "As I said before Ellie, I approve of the change. You're not an AI anymore; you're a person, and the crew, mostly, respect that. I know all of the ground team does." Before he left he turned to the pair snuggled in bed and smiled. "Enjoy that," he motioned to their position, "because in three days we're going to get that IFF, and then see if this Geth needs something done before the reckoning. If they do then we're getting that out of the way as soon as possible, so it'll be busy."

Not waiting for a reply he walked out of the room; the doors hissing shut and locking behind him, and Jack turned to Andy with a small smile that quickly morphed into one of hunger. "I can think of a few things I'd like to do in our... free time."

Andy didn't even have time to reply before her lips came crashing down upon his. Despite the fact that he knew such a hurried action would never lead to sex, his mind wasn't inclined to care at that moment. He had a half-naked, beautiful woman whom he loved straddling his chest and kissing him with those exquisite, full lips of hers. Throwing all the cares to the back of his mind he buried his hands in her grey hair and pulled her closer whilst massaging her scalp - eliciting a vibrating moan from deep in her throat.

At that moment he didn't care that within seventy two hours they'd be running through the innards of a Reaper and be facing abominations. He didn't care that the Reapers were on their way, or that the Collectors were likely tooling up for battle. He didn't care that he'd eventually have to put up with the Council's shenanigans.

At that moment, however sappy it sounded, all he cared about was _her_, and he knew that the feeling was mutually returned.

And that feeling made him feel on top of the world.

* * *

**A/N: Just a little something I found... so stupid about the Arrival DLC was the graphic Shepard watched as the Mass Relay explosion engulfed the solar system. That happened in like... five, maybe ten seconds as he pulled his sad face and then walked away... which means that (if the Bahak System was around half the dimensions of our one) the explosion was travelling at approximately 800 times the speed of light...**

**Where's my Tui advertisement?**

**So I didn't like that, because despite it being a Mass Relay it's properties were destroyed in its destruction and thus light, as the ball that engulfs the Bahak System exhibited it was, should travel, logically, at the speed of light. So really Shepard should've been staring at that galaxy map for like... 2.218 hours with that sad face plastered on his dial. If you want to check my logic here're my calculations: -**

**Distance from Sol to Pluto= 4.786x10^9 (essentially radius of our Solar System)**

**Distance to travel that distance in a vacuum at speed of light = 4.435 hours**

**Half that (as Bahak System should logically be around half radius of our own, as it holds only 5 planets in comparison to our 9)= 2.2175 hours**

**So there's my bitching done... though I can see why Bioware made it only ten seconds; I would've been mighty pissed seeing Shepard staring forlornly at an inching representation of a disintegrating Solar System for that long. Also, it is sci-fi, so I'm sure that many arguments could be made out of my argument... but it's my fic, so that explosion travelled at the speed of light.**


	12. What The Fuck Have You Done Lately?

"Well this is creepier than I anticipated."

Andy was looking around at the internal structure of the Reaper with an expression of distaste on his face and nodded in agreement. "I'm getting vibes off this thing even now, and it's deactivated."

Shepard stepped forward to take point and Jack, Andy, and Morinth fell into formation behind him. Morinth turned to Andy after a moment and cocked her head to the side. She hadn't had much chance to talk to him since he'd torn the Reaper from her soul, as he'd been busy working out logistics for the upgrades he'd been planning on giving the Universe's fleets, and she had been busy getting to know her mother again after so long running from her. She had been ecstatic that her mother's code had allowed for forgiveness for her crimes, as she hadn't been herself when committing them, and secretly Samara had been relieved too. Andy's words to her back on Omega had struck a nerve, and she wondered just how much killing her daughter would have truly affected her. "You can feel the presence on your mind?"

Andy turned to the slightly more natural-looking Asari with a small nod; his pistol held ready by his side. "Yeah - it's like a pressure on your thoughts, or at least a full-out indoctrination is. Being here's more like something brushing my mind; whispering sweet nothings... saves they're not too sweet, and I'm not inclined to listen to anybody that whispers sensually in my ear but Jack."

Jack jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and he gave a grunt. When he looked to her he was on the receiving end of a mild glare. "No fluffy stuff on missions."

Muttering a small "sorry," and flipping Shepard off when he gave a small whipping sound, he turned back to an amused Morinth with a roll of his eyes. "But anyways, yes, I can feel it. So can Jack, and Shepard's probably feeling like somebody's repeatedly poking him in the brain... hence the small scowl. He can feel something's wrong, but can't get a firm hold on what it is - like an illusive bug that keeps on biting you."

"That is very interesting..." He could hear that she wasn't exaggerating in the slightest, and was genuinely interested. "Why can I not feel anything?"

"Probably because you were once indoc-" he paused a moment to pull off a shot at the head of a husk, and then turned to her when more started appearing. "To be continued," he assured her, and then hauled up his arm; sending an almost blinding wave of dark energy ripping into their opponents; blasting cybernetics across the floor in front of them. Abominations quickly joined the fray, notably red in comparison their 'normal' husk counterparts, and ran at them screaming; fire flaring over their bodies. While Shepard lay down devastatingly accurate fire from the upper storey, Andy, Jack, and Morinth charged onto the lower level; brutally decimating their foes with biotically charged punches and melee attacks. The explosions of the Abominations were easily absorbed by the two former, though the Ardat-Yakshi had to be pulled out of the sudden swarm of enemies when her shields failed and her biotics were wearing down. She watched in awe from behind a crate as she recovered. While Shepard's gunfire was tearing into the enemies, the two biotics in front of her were a veritable duo of death. No enemy survived an encounter with them; their body parts often partially atomised by hand-to-hand attacks enhanced with a sheath of terrifyingly black energy. A low groan suddenly issued forth from the catwalk in front of them, and Shepard gave a low cuss when he saw a Scion appear; a grotesque amalgamation of three husks with a huge, element-zero stores bulging forth from its back. He was well acquainted with the horrific creature, and had more than enough experience with its shield-decimating abilities.

Morinth, on the other hand, was looking at the thing with complete disgust and terror. It wasn't natural, not by any stretch of the imagination. It was an affront to the Goddess, and she felt compelled to destroy it. She was about to move out of cover and begin delivering attacks when she saw the two human biotics turn to each other and give matching grins, and could only watch in shock as the two begun leisurely jogging towards it - despite the fact that it was at least fifty meters away and had the advantage of its long-range attacks. The Scion suddenly seemed to inflate, and then a huge, pounding trail of biotic energy blasted forth from it. Even at her distance she was unable to avoid it entirely and her eyes widened when she felt her shields come crashing down with only one hit from it. Andy and Jack had simply disappeared. Both Shepard and Morinth looked around for the pair, and didn't find them for several seconds... until they saw the tell-tale white hair wisp in a seemingly non-existent breeze.

Behind the Scion.

Suddenly a small blur seemed to shoot up from behind Jack, and everything was nearly silent for several moments; the only sound the lumbering thumps of the Reaper's experiment-gone-wrong. "Up here little fucker!"

Every head in the room snapped upwards, and two of the Scion's heads' last sight was of Andrew descending upon them; both his hands encased in whirling black energy, and a huge grin on his face. He ploughed through the Scion; blasting his targets to atoms, and the remaining head groaned in what could be construed as pain; spinning around from the momentum of the attack.

Its last sight was of Jack's lightning-fast spinning kick coming at its face.

With a loud thwump the now-headless corpse fell to the ground, shaking the ground slightly, and Shepard and Morinth could only watch with wide eyes as the two fighters grinned and gave each other a high-five... over the body of the Scion. "Was that really necessary? I mean come on, you two, hell, just one of you, could've nailed the entire lot of them in one fell swoop!"

Jack turned her head over her shoulder as she looked down at the two hurrying to catch up and raised an eyebrow. "But where's the fucking fun in that? I mean, there's pretty much nothing we can't do anymore. If we just used all our abilities we'd get bored - hence the only way to _not_ get bored is to do awesome fucking shit like that. I mean come on Shep; you gotta admit that that was pretty goddamn awesome."

"You are treating it as a game." Morinth's words weren't phrased as a question, rather a statement, but the two human biotics shrugged and gave a nod anyway.

"Sure. Unfortunately Fucker's leading with that goddamn awesome slam that got two of the heads, so I'm at twenty and he's at twenty two... Fucker."

Andy's response was a grin, and Morinth was floored. Before her were two beings that had the power to do nearly anything they wished; able to mould reality to do their very bidding, and yet they were simply content in fighting for the betterment of the Universe with very little personal gain - and that which they did gain simply seemed to be enjoyment. The look in Jack's eyes was blood-thirsty, yet tamed by a level of control that no other person in her situation would hold. It was clear to the Ardat-Yakshi that Jack had been trained to gain complete ecstasy from the heat of battle and murder, and yet with the reports she had read the results of her upbringing should have been far more apparent.

The reason for the tempered love of violence, Morinth was sure, stood at her side. Andy was walking with a stride that simply screamed power, and also a complete belief in himself. His ice-blue eyes glimmered with amusement and serenity, as well as sharp awareness, and Morinth found herself thinking that he was almost perfect. Many would construe his walk and self-confidence as a sign of arrogance, and yet she knew by experience that when talking to him it was blatantly clear that he was nothing of the sort. He never lauded himself over others, saves when teasing good-naturedly, and if the rumours around the ship were anything to go by then if somebody had a problem and he heard about it... he'd do damn near anything to fix it. One of the _cleaning_ crew; a person that was considered the lowest of the low in regards rank, had a daughter on Illium that was getting sexually harassed. Not to the point of rape at the time of Andy hearing about it, but the advances were getting close. The next day Andy had pulled the man aside; a single father, and informed him that his daughter had nearly been raped the previous night.

Martin had very nearly had a mental break down, at least until Andy had hurriedly added that it had been stopped by some friends of his. He went on to explain that he'd made allies by saving several very high-standing families on Illium from a series of Batarian Slaver raids, and had contacted them immediately upon hearing his daughter's predicament. The would-be-rapists had been turned over to the Batarian Slavers for a rather hefty sum of money due to their strong physical condition, and that money had been used to get his daughter a new, more secure apartment, as well as private self-defence training from an ex-Asari Commando.

He hadn't asked for a single thing in return.

The stories that she had heard around the ship, and from her mother, had, and still did astonish her. They seemed to be never-ending. Perhaps the most incredible story of selflessness she had heard about Andy was how he had helped Kelly Chambers. The Cerberus mole was the one that had dobbed him and Shepard into the Illusive Man for all of the new tech going in. She had also, very inappropriately, 'checked him out', Morinth believed the human term was, on several occasions, and made various 'passes' at him; attempting to steal him away from Jack. She was, by all counts, the most infuriating person on the entire ship for Andrew, and yet he had discovered in a communication he'd intercepted, as all her mail was forwarded to him after her discovery as a mole, that Cerberus had her family held as hostage should she betray the human extremist organization. Further digging revealed that she had been 'recruited' right out of Psych School where she had graduated with the highest honours possible, and the best scores ever recorded. One night when she was on her sleep rotation Andy had slunk off, opened a wormhole to the Yangtze system of the Voyager cluster, landed right on top of the Cerberus base holding her family - her two parents, younger sister and older brother, and then, after evacuating them, proceeded to crunch the entire base to dust.

He'd relocated them on Freedom's Progress, and so just thirty minutes after leaving he was landing back in the Cargo Hold in his commandeered Kodiak Drop Shuttle. Kelly had been scared positively witless when Andy had dragged her into the women's bathrooms upon her getting up to go to the toilet, and had paled to nearly ghost-like proportions when he'd told her that he knew she was a mole, and had dobbed them in to the Illusive Man. She'd started crying when he told her that he also knew about the psychological warfare she had been trying to wage on him and Jack; attempting to jam a wedge between them, but had only been able to stand stock-still and shocked beyond belief when he informed her of what he had done. Of course this had, Murphy's Law prevailing, Jack walking in on the pair just as Kelly was glomping him. The resulting yelling match was the thing that had started the rumours of what he had done, and Kelly had confirmed it to a couple of people later on.

Of course they then informed a couple of people, and they their strictest confidants, until the entire ship knew what had happened.

Marcus Grint, the other remaining mole that was actually feeding reliable information to the Illusive Man, had, after having Ellie and Izzy perform a series of facial recognition tests, and reconstruction simulations, been revealed as Kong Leng; younger brother of Kai Leng. The data mine of the Illusive Man's systems had come in very useful in that regard, and before Shepard could even consider being merciful after discovering that the man they had tied up in the Hold had a penchant for raping the loved ones of those he extorted... well the man had been reduced to little more than a fine crimson mist. Andy had left the head intact and had sent it via Cerberus Classified Transport to the Illusive Man with a note attached that said, _'One down, and none to go. Your moles... they're not yours anymore.'_

It just went to show that despite Andy's often calm and laid-back manner, he could become brutal and completely vicious within a fraction of a second. Once more, many would see such a trait as a sign of instability. Once again they'd be wrong, as only his very stringent morals dictated when such a change to his darker demeanour would occur, and the very same self-imposed rules prevented any collateral damage. Morinth could see Andy's thought process on the Cerberus mole quite clearly; he's a traitor, a rapist, a murderer, a sadist, and an extortionist. The universe is better for his death.

She couldn't agree more. When she thought about it Andrew Kronos was a lot like her own mother. Infinitely wise, knowledgeable, ruthless, and loving; with a code that governed justice in his mind. Some said that one shouldn't take justice into their own hands, and those that tried were often locked away.

The difference with Andy was that he truly was a law unto himself. Nobody could stop his code even if they tried.

They walked along the catwalks; Jack and Andy five meters ahead laughing about something, and Shepard looked to Morinth with a small smile as he jabbed his finger at the pair. She gave a chuckle and nodded her head as she reloaded her pistol, but couldn't do much more silent communication with Shepard because Andy had dropped back and fallen into step with her. "Where were we? Ah, yes, that's right, why you can't feel the indoctrination."

She was floored, but after a moment came to the conclusion that she shouldn't have been; he was a man of his word after all, and if he said he was going to continue a conversation then it was going to happen. "Um, yeah - I can't feel anything."

"Well that's probably because Otrere didn't take his identification imprint with him when he left, as he thought you were going to die by your mother's hand. It essentially marked you as his property, and as bad as that sounds, it's actually a good thing because no other Reaper will be able to indoctrinate you. They simply lack the capability to overcome the protections of their own - after all, why would they want to? You're essentially immune... at least that seems to be the deal if my memories of Otrere are accurate."

"Ah." They walked for a while, and Morinth turned to him before pointing slightly at Jack.

"How did you two meet?"

She watched a sly smile come over his face. "Ever heard of Purgatory?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, you used that to get me interested on Omega - said you'd knocked it over or something."

He turned his startling blue eyes towards her and gave a laugh. "And you thought I was joking, didn't you?" She didn't know what to say to that, and he laughed again at the dumbfounded expression on her face. "I knocked it over to get Jack out. None of the other prisoners escaped, but I did end up killing all the guards there. They're Blue Suns, and I'm in the business of getting rid of the bastards. They're mercenaries with no morals, just like the Blood Pack. Hell, even Cerberus is better than they are, and I decided that the world would be no less for their loss. Afterwards I contacted a bloke I know in C-Sec and had him assign ten of his very best detectives onto investigating the crimes of all the prisoners on Purgatory. Thirty were innocent, fifty had only performed minor crimes, but... well, the ones that had committed cold-blooded murder or rape soon found themselves on a one-way trip into the Osun sun."

"B-but I thought that there were nearly nine thousand prisoners on that ship!"

Andy's eyes swivelled to look at her and he raised an eyebrow. "Your point?" She simply gaped, and he shrugged. "They were scum; completely unrepentant for their actions. I made sure my friends at C-Sec checked that before sending it on its final course, and I trust them. Not a single innocent person, or one that was extorted to perform a crime, or committed one under duress, was killed. I sentenced eight thousand four hundred and sixty nine people to death that day. I don't regret my decision to snuff the lives of a single one of those bastards."

"Trust me," Jack interjected, seeing the slight disappointment radiating from Shepard and Morinth, "they all deserved it. I knew a lot of the people on that hellhole, and when we were looking over the files I helped sort through them. Don't think any less of Andy because you're so closed minded; he saved thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, or even millions, from acts that those disgusting little fucks would have committed if they'd been released, or even kept in a prison. Not a single one that died was a boon to society in any way, and every single one of them was capable of ruining lives. Sacrifice the criminal, rapist, murdering scum to save the innocent and good... I think Andy did a fucking good job."

Morinth and Shepard now looked thoughtful, and didn't really pay attention to the two biotics step into the fray of another battle and decimate each and every single one of their foes, bickering the entire time with wide grins on their faces and arguing over kills. "I had the last one," Jack whined, and Andy turned his head to her with a deadpan look.

"You, at best, stopped it moving for a second. Me punching my knee through its head, I think, was the _killing_ blow... hence me getting the kill."

The tattooed woman pouted and crossed her arms, before quickly flinging her hands out and blasting a single husk to pieces - a wide grin on her face. "AHA! HA! That's thirty seven EACH!"

Rolling his eyes he sent two simultaneous waves of black energy down each side of the catwalk they were standing, and Jack stared at him with narrow eyes - before they lit up when hands started appearing on the edges, and then pale, blue cybernetic arms as the husks pulled themselves up. She looked at the first one; set it in her sights, and then gaped when it suddenly screeched as blackness surged from its feet and devoured it. She looked to the one beside it, and rushed towards it... but a moment before her fist could impact its legs disappeared by the same darkness. A moment later the rest of its body followed, and then all of the other recently-arriving husks and abominations. She managed to get one kill in before one of the husks was decimated, but was eventually left staring at small licks of black flame dying out on the edges of the walkway. Morinth and Shepard stared with wide eyes as the young woman slowly turned around, murder in her eyes, and glared daggers at her smug boyfriend. "That's... fifty two to your... thirty eight I believe." What followed was a fight that occurred faster than either Shepard or Morinth could follow; blues, blacks, golds, and reds blasting forth within the blurs as different constructs of Dark Energy were manipulated. Two minutes later the battle ceased as suddenly as it had started, and it revealed Andy swathed in a deep halo of gold; blasting outwards from his body and suppressing Jack's warring black power. "You chose the wrong construct in that last attack, hence why you're stuck right now," he commented casually, ignoring her snarl. "What you should've done was employ a Reaper-based attack instead of a Prothean. I'm using a Nexus construct, and you know full well that Prothean biotics can't hold a candle to its properties."

She growled again but then finally let out a small sigh and a nod of defeat. He let her drop gently back to the ground, and just as quickly had his arm around her waist. Both Shepard and Morinth were expecting some retaliation, but were shocked when the only thing that happened was Jack reaching up and bonking him on the head with closed fist, calling him a "smug little fucker," and then leaning into his side. Morinth turned her head to Shepard looking appalled, and he just shook his head with muted disbelief before turning to her and giving a wry smile. "I've said it once, I've said it twice, I've said it more times than I can count: those two have something none of us can ever hope to comprehend."

They walked along without many obstructions until they came out at the IFF, and Shepard was just about to pull it out of its slot when Andy caught his hand and shook his head. "You might not want to do that quite yet," he commented. Shepard cocked his head but withdrew his hand, and Andy looked around before snapping his head towards where he felt one of his trigger strands jerk with movement before latching onto the life form. Everybody watched his head move as if watching something, though when they tried to see what he was they found nothing. Jack wasn't anywhere near Andy's level at precision biotics, and so couldn't track targets like he could, and was just as clueless as Morinth and Shepard. Morinth was about to ask what was going on when Andy called out, amplifying his voice with biotics. "Geth, you are among allies here. Come down and fight beside us; we're going to need all the help we can get once we take this IFF."

There was no sound for several seconds, but everybody besides Andy jumped in surprise and whipped their weapons up as they spun around at a loud thump. Morinth gaped at the Geth that was facing them, and Shepard and Jack looked uneasy - but didn't shoot as they knew that this platform was supposed to be a potential teammate. "Kronos Andrew," it greeted synthetically, and Andy gave it a small nod and smile.

"Hello Geth. You know, it does sound rather... odd calling you that. Would you accept a new designation of 'Legion'?"

"Human Bible, Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine: my name is Legion, for we are many. We assume you are referring to the number of Geth platforms housed within this unit rather than the nature of the Legion?" Andy gave a chuckle and nodded, and the Geth nodded back after a moment. "That is acceptable. We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth."

Andy held his hand out, and Legion cocked his head to the side before its flaps flickered outwards and he took Andy's with his own. "Human tradition," he stated as they shook, "often given as a sign of comradery, trust, and agreement."

"Dissecting everything I say _could_ get rather tedious, Legion. Perhaps learning to internalize such observations would be a good idea."

Silence for a couple of seconds as the Geth internalized _that_ problem, and then it gave a small nod. "Consensus has been reached; acting more organic will help with communication. We have accepted the change in protocol."

Staring at the Geth for a moment before shaking his head Andy turned his back to their new teammate and nodded to Shepard.

And then Shepard took the IFF.

The results were staggering.

Andy had wondered just why they had only come up against one single Scion in their time on the Reaper, and he soon got his answer. _Twenty_ of them moaned their way from the path they had taken to enter the room housing the IFF; surrounded by a legion of abominations, husks, and...

"Fuck me sideways," Andy said with a breathy sigh, "it's a Praetorian."

Morinth was gaping at the thing, but her head snapped to Jack in disbelief when all the young woman had to say was a light-hearted, "Ugly little fucker, ain't it? How many's that count for?"

"Thirty husks went into its construction, so I'd say twenty." He looked across at her with a wide grin. "Oooh, you actually have a chance to catch up to me."

All the while as they were talking the rest of their team were firing wildly into the rapidly approaching army of undead, and Scion's blasts were smashing relentlessly... with absolutely no effect on the casually talking biotic duo. Morinth had heard the tales of the two withstanding the explosion of a Mass Relay, and after defeating a Reaper to boot, but seeing the pair simply shrugging off lethal attacks like it was nothing in front of her very eyes... it was something you had to see to believe, and she was seeing. Finally the two shook on something of a deal, and then casually begun walking towards the approaching hoard. Almost lazily the two flowed seamlessly within the reaches of their opponents; fluidly delivering punches, kicks, and other melee attacks so fast that it seemed they weren't pausing in their walk towards the huge, floating amalgamation of husks ahead.

Looking to the huge weapon strapped to Shepard's back Morinth had the thought that she'd be scared facing just the Praetorian with one of them, and at full health, and here two biotics were blasting swathes through the battalion of Reaper experiments like they were taking an early morning stroll in the Citadel Gardens; bickering away and teasing each other with wide grins on their faces as their knees, elbows, fists, and feet ploughed through the bodies of all those that dared stray within their reach. When they got within range of the Praetorian and Scions they broke into a dead sprint however; disappearing for the most part to Morinth's eyes, before reappearing in flickers as they pummelled the hunch-backed abominations to death. In less than six seconds all twenty of the hulking Eezo-storing walkers were lying motionless on the ground; their heads mere mounds of mush, and then, in concert, two blurs appeared above the head of the most dangerous opponent. Morinth's eyes widened in wonder as she saw Jack appear with a bloodthirsty and determined grin on her face, and Andy with amusement and glee of the chase, and then the pair blurred once more in dual flashes of black before reappearing; crouched beneath the huge insectoid thing.

There was no sound for several seconds, until an ear-piercing screech tore itself from the mouths of the Praetorian as it slowly turned white and disintegrated. The entire team, including Legion, watched in mixed parts shock and awe as the two stood... and then proceeded to argue about who got the kills. Shepard finally ended the row ten minutes later when he saw that Andy was just egging his girlfriend on, if the twinkle in his eye and twitching of his lips were anything to go by, by blowing a hole in the power core with his Cain. Andy and Jack had immediately agreed on splitting the kill 50-50, and then turned their ire on Shepard for being, "such a fucking idiot, Shepard, did you even think about how we're going to get out of here now the entire place is falling apart? Eh? No, you didn't, because you're a stupid, foolhardy, fucking retard."

Andy had just smirked at the gobsmacked Commander and nodded his agreement.

The five finally managed to get back aboard the Normandy without dying, and Joker had quite promptly hauled ass before the ship was pulled into the inevitable explosion Shepard's, to quote Joker verbatim, "stupid fucking sabotage," caused.

Legion had been given a refuge in the AI core, and upon entering had commented with confusion that it wasn't able to access local systems. Andy and Jack just watched in amusement as Legion's flaps flared and closed for the next five minutes, until Ellie made an appearance; storming into the room with her hands on her hips as she glared at the Geth. "Stop trying to hack me! Gah! I had to divert two percent, TWO DAMN PERCENT, to counter your persistent little snoop. I was calculating the physics of Mass Effect fields with that two percent, and you-"

"Now now," came a reassuring voice from the door, and a moment later Izzy walked in with a wide smile on her face as she grabbed Ellie around the waist and kissed her on the forehead; eliciting a small eep and blush from the previously-ranting woman. "That's just a side project for you. You can spare two percent, and if you were so interested in the calculations then you could've just asked me if you could use some of my quota."

Ellie looked at her with wide eyes, and Andy, Jack, and Legion could see the wetness there. "Really? You'd really give up some of your processing power for me?"

Izzy gave a wide grin, her crimson hair flicking behind her as she nodded. "I'd give up ninety-nine percent for you."

Ellie looked positively overcome, and Andy had turned to Jack with a small chuckle as he shook his head. "That's something I don't think I'll ever understand."

"We postulate you are AIs. Such a phenomena has never been seen before. You possess inflections, personalities, and bodies unrecognizable from humans. We must ask how this came to be."

"And you'll be getting a rather succinct answer, Legion," interrupted Shepard as he walked in, "because you don't need to know."

"Information privacy could lead to conflict," the platform warned, and its flaps flickered in confusion when there was dead silence for several seconds before everybody started laughing. "We do not recognize any stimulus for amusement."

"Look tin-can," grinned Jack, "we're laughing because the idea of _you_ taking _us_ on is... well it's absurd. You fucking saw what Andy and I did on the Reaper, and Shep here can tell you that's only a fraction of what we're capable of. Everybody here is wearing armour that is light years ahead of what you've got, and Ellie and Iz... well they could rebuff the hacks of the entire fucking Geth race... with around a tenth of the processing power available to them. You're threatening us with violence... well we're threatening you with being completely stomped into the fucking ground."

"Now we're working towards the same goal here Legion," Andy interrupted before things could get too heated, "getting rid of the Old Machines. Threatening each other is not going to get us anywhere. We will not relinquish any of our technology to you besides armour," he pointed to the gaping hole in his torso, "and weapons. You'll also notice that if you try to reverse engineer any of our technology you'll be summarily... involved in an explosion directed right at you - so don't even try. We've got technology on this ship that would make the _Reapers_ jealous. See, Legion, there once was a Reaper called Otrere. He was the one designated for technology gathering when wiping out races... like the Protheans. He held all the technical knowledge of all the races in the Universe... ever. The Reapers, believing themselves invincible, let Otrere keep all that knowledge isolated within itself. Turns out that's a bad idea, especially when there's somebody capable to killing and absorbing Reapers." He tapped the side of his head. "All the knowledge of all the races ever existent in the Universe is in here, Legion, and only in here. There is no other record of the technology we possess saves in my head, and trust me when I say that you are but a blip on the radar. You can help us, Legion, and we can help you... but threatening us, or stabbing _any_ of us in the back in _any_ way is a one-way ticket to getting killed. We do not accept traitors on this vessel."

"Andy has my full support on this matter," Shepard said upon seeing the Geth look at him, "and I agree fully. There are only four people in this entire Universe with the ability to have full control over the technology, and it will stay that way until they are on their deathbeds and they chose a successor to their secret. This matter is closed, Legion; we will not relinquish any plans or technology to you that you can study." Not waiting for agreement from the new crew member he cocked his head to the side. "Now, Legion, is there anything we can help you with before the Reaper invasion? We want the entire crew focussed."

There were several seconds of silence as Legion assimilated the new status-quo and calculated the risks, before it nodded. "Yes, Shepard Commander. The heretics-"

"We are aware," interrupted Andy, "of the situation between the factions."

Legion was once again taken aback. "We were not aware that anybody was aware of the conflict."

"We are."

Another silence. "The Heretic Geth have a station where they have produced a virus that, when released, will compel normal Geth to join the war against organic life."

"And you want to go there and destroy the station?"

"Affirmative."

Shepard looked to Andy for guidance, and got a small shrug and nod in return. "Alright, we'll leave at 0600 ship time tomorrow. I need a sleep."

Legion gave a nod and everybody filed out of the AI core. Just as they reached the door of the Med-Bay Ellie slapped her forehead in frustration with a small growl. "That damn Geth just doesn't give up, does it? I swear, for the entire time that darn thing's on this ship I'm going to have to dedicate processing power to repelling its hacks."

Andy just shook his head with a small smile and carried on with Jack to their quarters, while Izzy and Ellie took the elevator down to the engineering deck... under which they had set up a very private residence. His suit sliding off his body like water Andy stepped out of the metallic puddle left on the floor and slipped into bed with a small sigh of relief. Jack joined him a moment later, snuggling into his side. "You never got to tell me how the meeting with the Council went."

"Frustrating," he replied instantly, "Infuriatingly frustrating. They're a bunch of complete idiots. I never realized just how fucking evasive and annoying they could be. The game never did the fucking experience any justice. They're denying the Reaper threat, despite the evidence I showed them. The evidence is irrefutable, completely and utterly so... and yet the first thing out of their mouths is that 'it'll cause panic with the public, and their confidence in the Council will diminish as we refuted the claims of such a threat years ago when the Citadel was attacked'. I think I read that pretty accurately as, 'we help you and the public finds out, we're fucked because we buried out heads in the sand'. They're more interested in their mother fucking positions than the good of the Galaxy. The Salarian Councillor was the only one that took what I said at face value and argued with me. The good thing, I suppose, is that we had a private call after the Council and we've got one thousand Salarian vessels travelling to the space above Virmire to get retrofitted. The Asari and Turian councillors just don't want to know... and don't even get me started on that retarded little fuck Udina."

Jack gave a chuckle; it wasn't often she got to see him ruffled, but his meeting seemed to have taken the cake. "So what're you going to do?"

"Hack all the holovid stations in the Galaxy and broadcast all the evidence. Or at least I'll threaten to do so. After that they should cave, but I have a bad feeling about the Asari and Turian councillors... they're... dark; tainted. They feel a little bit like Morinth did, so I'm seriously fucking wary of them. I've got a server bank being built on Virmire, and I plan on asking Izzy and Ellie whether they'd be okay bringing another two AIs into the Universe. They'd run all the new retrofitted tech just in case things go awry and the Turians and Asari turn on us, and could easily control all the ships to bring a unified attack if necessary."

"A server bank?"

He gave a grin and nodded. "Same tech as our Omni-tools, but about five hundred times the size... more than enough power to control over one hundred thousand ships, organize battle plans, and initiate hacks on the Reapers."

Jack's eyes were wide. "F-Five hundred times? That's... wow. What if the AI turns on everybody though?"

"Would it? With Ellie and Izzy as its creators? Only six people will know about them as well; you, me, Ellie, Izzy, Shepard, and through him Liara. They will have artificial bodies of their own, and because nobody will know what they are they will be able to live normal lives abound whilst protecting the Galaxy. When Shepard and Liara die they will pass the knowledge onto a successor they deem worthy, and so it will continue; a line of protectors that will forever keep this galaxy safe."

"And what about us?"

He gave a sigh and shrugged. "I don't know Jack, I don't know. There were over one hundred thousand Reapers in existence the last time Otrere visited their citadel, and that was nearly a millennia ago. I have no idea of their numbers now... but if things become too dire here, then I have a plan."

Jack's warm, chocolate eyes turned upwards to look at him, and she found herself staring into the serious sapphire of her lover's. "What plan?"

He leant down and kissed her gently. "A plan I hope to not have to use. It involves..."

He told her of his plan; leaving no details out, and after nearly half an hour Jack gave a small nod of determination up at Andy. "If it comes to that I'll be there. I won't let you do that alone."

He gave a small chuckle, though it held no humour, before kissing her forehead again - scenarios playing fervently in his mind. "I didn't expect any less my Love."

* * *

Jeff Moreau looked out at the approaching ship with wide eyes; the last time he'd seen something as big had been when facing Sovereign. "That's a really big fucking ship," he murmured under his breath; virtually hissing the curse so that the raven-haired beauty at his side wouldn't pick it up. Due to extensive genetic enhancements however, Miranda had no problem hearing his swearing, and the red-haired pilot received a liberal slap around the back of his head for his language. "Damn it woman!" he growled as he turned to look at his girlfriend of nearly five months. Their relationship wasn't smooth-running by any means, as they were both just as stubborn as each other, but there was a special spark that both knew meant something deep.

It didn't stop their bickering however.

Nor did it stop their rather passionate make-up sessions.

"Stop staring at my chest, Jeff, and focus on the mission," she reprimanded him after a few moments, and he maturely poked his tongue out at her before doing as she'd asked.

"You staying here then?"

She nodded. "Yes. Shepard's taking Andy, Jack and Legion on this one, as they're all tech experts."

"Not jealous?"

"Walking around a ship with Geth everywhere, being led by another Geth? Not really."

Another one of their similarities was the dry, sarcastic humour. Joker grinned. "Fair enough. At least I'll have some company. Would you mind hanging around here for a while?"

She shook her head, and made to sit; a stream of nanobots quickly morphing out of the floor and constructing a chair for her to sit on. "Nothing else to do, and besides, we haven't exactly had a lot of time to talk lately."

He smiled warmly at her, missing the Drop Shuttle fly across his stern and head towards the Geth ship - at least until Shepard came over the communications. "We're clear Joker, take the Normandy out and we'll call you when we need pickup."

"Got it Shep, stay safe down there."

"Shepard out."

Silence reigned across the comms again as Joker quickly opened up a rift to the deserted Bahak System, and upon flying through it gave a small whistle. There was pure, empty space for billions of kilometres around them on all sides. "'s pretty incredible what Andy and Jack did here," he commented after a moment, and Miranda couldn't help but nod in agreement. Seeing it with her own two eyes was something else. The stories did the scene no justice whatsoever.

"I would find it hard to believe, but seeing some of the feats those two perform on the mission cameras and in the training room... nothing really seems impossible for them." She gave a bitter laugh, "Father would be so livid; her 'perfect' baby girl outshone by a nobody and an ex-convict." She saw Joker's shocked expression and she held her hands up before hastily explaining, "I don't think of them like that, but it's what he'd say. I owe them just as much as most others, and I consider then great friends, but my father would not approve, of me being friends with them, or them being better than I am."

Joker's shocked and disapproving expression had dropped mid-way through the explanation and he gave a small nod. "Your father sounds like a real charmer. We won't be playing meet the family any time soon, will we? Your dad could be plenty intimidating I'm sure."

"You'll be meeting Oriana," she warned with a small smile, "but my father lost the right to interfere with my life years ago. You can scratch 'face scary father' off your list." She gave a wry grin when he pulled up a list titled, "Things to do" and literally deleted the entry for 'don't shit yourself when facing Miri's father'. "I didn't know you were so concerned," she said with mock concern, and he shot her a look.

"Your dad's a fuc- freaking psychopath, Miri, who tried to raise you to be the perfect daughter. I think I had every right to be concerned." They sat there talking for several minutes, at least until Izzy interrupted them; running onto the bridge.

"Jeff, pay attention," she warned when she arrived, "there's a precursor FTL line coming right into this system. Ellie's tracking the origin now, but it's getting close."

A moment later Ellie's voice came over the ship-wide communications. "Attention all crew; we have a Collector vessel inbound on our position. Its mass is nearly exceeding the limits for FTL travel, as its precursor is fluxing wildly, so I postulate that this is the Collector Base come to visit us. Please get to your designated battle stations; I repeat, get to your battle positions. As stated in earlier meetings, do not worry about armour; and stay calm when your clothing morphs."

Gasps and yells of surprise came from everybody when their clothing suddenly seemed to shift into matte-black, skin-tight suits of armour, but the threat of attack brought them promptly out of their shock and had them running for the armoury outside of which Jacob was handing out pistol and assault rifle capsules whilst yelling out that all they had to do was hold the metallic tubes in their fists and it would do the rest. Joker's suit was already outfitted with the full load-out of the ground team; Miranda having trained him herself, and the pair gave each other a grim nod before standing. "Could just run," Joker said, "but these bastards were always going to be trouble. It's time that Shep, Jack, and Andy come back and find out that _we've_ done something suitably awesome."

She gave a grin before lying down beside him on the ground, shouldering her sniper rifle just as he was; aimed towards the doors and elevator. There was a loud thwump as a huge object came out of FTL travel, and Joker was under no illusions that the ship now outside theirs dwarfed their own. Down in the cargo hold Tali was looking out a window at the huge base with wide eyes and a murmured, "Keelah..." It was easily thirty kilometres high and ten wide. She jolted when a loud screech came from in front of her, and spun around before gasping when she saw a huge swarm of bug-like things blasting into the hold. She'd heard about them from Shepard, and breathed a mental sigh of relief that she was wearing a suit immune to their effects.

"Joker, it's Tali. Seeker Swarms are in the Cargo Hold, and my systems signal breaches on other floors of the ship. Why are they even getting through? Our shielding should easily be able to repel their docking charges."

"They're coming in because I told Ellie to let them in," he explained as he heard gunfire coming from the direction of the Armoury, "it's the only way to get this done right. If they couldn't breach then they'd just get the Collector base to fire upon us... and I'm not sure we'd survive that. We're giving them false hope by letting them onto the Normandy, when in reality we're diverting all energy from Big Momma One, Two, and Three into charging our main guns. They'll be at full charge in ten minutes, and as soon as that happens we'll fire on the main base. Just got to hold out 'till then."

There was gunfire from Tali's side, and then a muffled, "Rodger that, Ellie seems to have relayed that message to the rest of the crew. We're doing okay down here, but they swarmed us so fast that a few got into the elevator. You should have a few on your level in-"

Her warning couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Just as she was finishing her sentence the doors of the elevator opened, and all the collectors, and Scions, inside were immediately assaulted by heavy fire from the crew stationed around the CIC; protected by barriers of nanobots, and brutal sniper targeting by Joker and Miranda. The first wave was done away with in mere seconds, though nobody was lessening their guard; there was bound to be more.

They couldn't have been more correct.

The next wave of attackers came in perfectly synchronised; from the doors to the Armoury and Lab, and the elevator all at once. The sound of gunfire came from the collectors whilst the Normandy crew's weapons only elicited small, barely audible clicks as they fired, and several Normandy crew yelled out when rounds slammed into their suits. Although it prevented mass trauma and transferred momentum, when under waves of fire Joker could attest to the fact that it could hurt like a bitch. The only people that seemed immune to injury were Andy and Jack. Joker's eyes strafed wildly from target to target as his rounds killed his previous quarries, and Miranda's body jolted slightly against his at every shot she fired.

And then came the wave of ten Scions and a Praetorian. Many had never seen the huge floating bug before, but it was now right in front of them... and it was scary as shit. Ellie quickly organized a quarter of the crew to fire on the less dangerous threat of the Scions over the communications network, while everybody else focussed their fire on the thing that was blasting beams of blue at the Normandy crew; taking several of them out as they were hit head on - not dead, but injured and unconscious. Its barriers quickly succumbed to the rapid firepower being employed against it, and after a couple of seconds it found its armour depleted by half. Letting out a terrifying screech that made people cringe it slammed down whilst releasing a wave of energy, and everybody closest to it was blasted away and slammed into various objects; crying out in pain. Those closest to the injured rushed forwards and dragged their fellow crewmates into cover whilst being covered by those behind, and then immediately took up positions once more to defeat the abomination.

Joker sniped the last Scion before turning his attention back to the Praetorian, and gave a yell when it turned its attention straight onto him; its heads' eyes all looking at where he and Miranda were laying. Pushing Miranda violently aside with a yell he was blasted with a full five second burst of energy; the plasma exerting so much pressure on his suit that it's kinetic capabilities had him stuck to the floor. As he was getting blasted with a lethal weapon he considered it a slight blessing that he possessed the advanced version of the suit. For one, without it he'd be dead. For seconds, he would've been sent flying into the front window, and probably have broken more than just his ribs, as he was feeling now. Finally the beam ceased, and with another otherworldly scream the huge creature disintegrated. He rolled over and coughed up some blood with a groan, and a second later found Miranda above him; her face terrified as she looked him over and caught sight of the blood on his lips. "I'm alright," he wheezed before she could work herself into a state, "just broke some ribs I think. The suit's already got Medibots running intravenously into my system, so I should be sweet in a sec."

She nodded and held his hand, ignoring all the other crew stumbling around as they moved to new cover that the nanobots had created for them using the mass of the dead Scions, and helped him up when he gave a short nod. "Thanks," she muttered, and he gave a small grin.

"Is now an inappropriate time to tell you that I love you?"

She stared at him for several seconds before beaming and pulling him into a quick kiss that he could feel she wanted to go on for longer. "Yes" she said after releasing him and helping him to the helm, "very inappropriate... but I love you too." He snapped a disbelieving look at her as she helped him into his pilot's chair, and she sent him the same beaming smile once more. "How could I not? You're the first person to love me for being me... apart from perhaps Oriana." She shook herself, but was unable to make her beaming grin diminish in the slightest. "But we can talk about this later, right now we have a Collector Base to blow up."

Joker had a great big smile as he turned to his instrument panel and nodded. "Right you are." He blurred through a series of testing procedures before coming to the screen showing the progress of the charge, and his grin turned feral as he gently manoeuvred the ship in space to look as if it was simply free-floating without anybody controlling it. The huge base appeared in the window in front of the two, and they gaped at the size of it.

"I mean... I know Andy said that the new weapons could destroy a Reaper, but... holy cow."

"That's as close to swearing as I'm going to get you, isn't it?"

"Likely" she quipped back, and he rolled his eyes before initiating targeting scans and procedures. Beams of energy flared out from the Normandy; invisible to the naked eye, as they scanned for defects and weak points, and finally they came back with results.

"Normandy Crew, this is your pilot speaking. We're about to pull a manoeuver that'll knock you the hell off your feet, so Ellie will be morphing you partially into the walls. Please step to your nearest wall right now, you have five seconds." Five seconds later yells of surprise echoed around the ship, surprising the remaining Collectors, and then Joker pulled a turn that would sheer any normal ship in half. Blasting around, he was underneath the huge base; leaving the Collector docking vessel in the figurative dust, and looking right into the barrel of its planet-killing gun. "Seal optics," he intoned clearly, and Ellie, from her own position in a wall, closed off all the visuals for every crew member. Jeff was looking onto his HUD which presented him with a wire-frame schematic of everything around him to prevent blindness upon launching the attack, and he grinned. "Targeting parameters active, fire on my mark. Mark."

And then there was blue.

Light burst forth from five protrusions on the Normandy wings and soared towards the huge Collector base, up the barrel of the charging weapon, and easily pierced its armour plating. Like a virus it consumed the ship; surrounding each and every atom in a FTL field and accelerating it to a random spot in the universe. The Collector Base was literally atomized from the inside out, until, with a single pulse of energy to make sure the attack had gotten everything, the light faded and all that was left was the once-again empty Bahak System.

Everybody's visuals phased back in once more, and they looked around in shock as Collector bodies disintegrated in front of their very eyes; the nanobots using the raw elements to create and replace the numbers they had lost in the battle. The huge holes in the hull slowly closed as the armour was re-laid by the technology aboard the ship, and those that were injured were carried as if on a cushion of air into the Crew Deck where Chakwas, Izzy, and Ellie were all waiting with their medical expertise at the ready. Up on the CIC Joker looked across at Miranda with a loving smile as he felt his ribs slowly stitching back together with the help of the medibots. Before he could say anything though, Shepard's voice came over the communications network. "Shepard to Normandy, we need pickup now! This place is about to blow!"

Initiating the wormhole generator Joker smirked to himself. "We've just defeated the Collector base, Shepard, what the fuck have you done lately?"

Miranda couldn't bring herself to remand her boyfriend for his language.


	13. Making a Move

It had been a week since the destruction of the Collector Base and, as Andy had informed the crew soon afterwards, the Human Reaper it had contained. When he told them how Reapers procreated quite a few of the crew had decided to make a controlled evacuation to the nearest toilet to vent their disgust. Joker, Ellie, and Izzy had been heralded as the heroes of the attack; having come up with the battle plans needed for the successful survival of all crew members with minimal injuries. Jeff had single-handedly spearheaded the main gun attack, Ellie had directed troops and helped Chakwas afterwards, and Izzy had provided support during the assault before joining her girlfriend in helping the injured.

Compared to detonating a vessel under a fiftieth the size, their mission to the Heretic Base had been a rather small blip in comparison to the crew's achievements in repelling and defeating a galactic menace singlehandedly. In the end Shepard, Jack, Andy, and Legion had decided to destroy the base and the heretics with Jack stating that "If you screw with my head, made me nod and smile at everything... I'd rather you blew my head off. Let me die as me." In the end that statement alone swayed Legion, and he said that the consensus with his runtimes was that destruction was the preferable option.

And so they had.

Walking onto the Normandy however, had been a sobering experience. Many broken pieces of equipment were being rebuilt by the nanotechnology, people were hobbling around helping others... and yet smiles and claps on the back signified the overarching emotions perfectly. They'd faced down the bane of the galaxy alone; a single ship against the hundreds housed within the Collector Base, and had come out on top. The medibots had even the most badly injured up and walking within a day, although still tender, and back to normal by the fourth. Andy had just come from a holo-meeting with the Salarian Fleets, the Quarians on Virmire, and Legion, who was broadcasting to his fellow Geth who had agreed to join the good fight. It'd gone extremely well, something Andy had become accustomed to being an oxymoron when referring to meetings with leaders of other races, but it was a welcome surprise. The entire Salarian Fleet was upgraded with the new armour and weaponry, and had been outfitted with a clipped version of the morphic armour on the floors of their ships.

Ever since thinking about the impacts the new technology could have on the universe, Andy had come, with Jack's input, to the conclusion that only the strongest minds were worthy of truly knowing and possessing the very best of the best. Over the course of design he had upgraded some of the Nano-technology... and that nanotechnology was only accessible to their special group consisting of Izzy, Ellie, himself, Jack, Shepard, Liara, Miranda, Joker, Tali, Kar, Gabrielle, Kenneth, Garrus, and just lately, Morinth. Samara had stated that she had best refrain from getting involved, as she understood Andy and Jack's goals, because she could be made to divulge any secrets to the Council should she be ordered under The Code. Andy had thanked her for her honesty. Of course there was a huge difference between those who had the technology available to them and those that could actually control it. Such trust was limited to four people; Jack, Andy, Shepard, and Liara. Izzy and Ellie had been offered the position of trust, but denied it saying that they were happy with the level of involvement they had already.

The new technology was an amalgamation of all the knowledge Andy had at his fingertips... and it was amazing; more advanced than anything ever before created in the entire Universe. It was, arguably, more incredible than the Reapers themselves. The nanobots were the base for everything, as they could create all the technology that stemmed from Andy's planning. The resulting nanobots were a fusion of all the most advanced technology ever postulated. Each one was the size and weight of a Charm Quark; achieved by using miniature mass-effect fields and tiny dimensional storage rifts, and had the processing power of the Normandy's original server banks. His Omni-tool weighed one gram. He'd, at one point, tried to say how many nanobots his Omni-tool held in one breath as a dare from Shepard two days ago. He'd discovered that saying "four hundred forty-two sextillion, four hundred seventy-seven quintillion, eight hundred seventy-six quadrillion, one hundred eighty-four trillion, ninety-nine billion, one hundred forty-four million, two hundred ten thousand, two hundred nineteen" in one breath was impossible. The fact that he was trying not to laugh at the gob smacked looks on their faces was probably another factor adding to the impossibility of the feat.

That virtually meant that each of their Omni-tools could hack damn near anything within fractions of a picosecond. Like Citadel Security. C-Sec had flipped out one early morning when they reviewed the night footage and saw legions of Geth performing the cancan in perfect unison to the music of Jacques Offenback's Orpheus in the Underworld. Jack and Andy had been in stitches as they saw C-Sec falling over themselves on a hacked security camera. Izzy had quickly joined in when she realized what the two had done, but then Ellie walked in, slapped them over the backs of their heads, and reprimanded them for such immature conduct. They'd all acted very contrite, at least until Ellie left in a huff whereupon they broke down once more.

The universe was at their fingertips with their Omni-tools; they were almost invincible in their armour; their weapons were completely devastating; and the medibots that were ready at a moment's notice allowed for a complete spinal fracture to be fixed in the time it took of the signal of pain to reach the brain... which it also intercepted and nullified. They possessed, by all counts, the technology of the gods; rendering their users almost unbeatable. And yet Andy had restricted them; removing all temptation to use them for bad; scribing an irreversible Code onto their firmware. It had taken him, Jack, Ellie, and Izzy two entire days - even with the raw processing power of two new omni-chips, namely his and Jack's, to get the Code down so that there were no loopholes and it was perfect for his wants, but it was finally achieved, and both Izzy and Ellie had been dropped off on Virmire almost immediately afterwards to complete the two new AIs that Andy had planned for, also carrying upgrades to the new technology. The resulting server bank would be indestructible, and the most powerful computing entity in the entire universe, ever.

The ramifications of the AI going rogue were... Armageddon-like, and yet both Izzy and Ellie, having asked to be given the same firmware imprint as the nanobots, agreed to imprint it onto the new AIs as well - and promised to always stay by his and Jack's sides through their eternity to help them and prevent corruption on their parts. Humans, or whatever they qualified as at that point, were unable to be imprinted after all.

All of this technology was why, three hours before it even happened, Andy got a message from one of his semi-intelligent programs stating: "Illusive Man has ordered strike on Normandy. In league with Councillors Valern and Tevos. Asari starship has your location pegged. ETA 3 hours to your position. Fleet statistics: thirty seven modified frigate-class ships based off original SR-2 design; ninety five Turian battle-cruisers; sixty Asari dreadnaughts; two hundred mixed fighters. Risk factor: negligible."

"What a bastard."

Jack turned her head over her shoulder from her desk and he flicked his omni-tool message towards her; the data packet jumping across the room and popping up on her terminal. She read for several seconds before shaking her head with a small snarl on her face. "I agree. Stupid fucker doesn't know who he'd messin' with. This whole fucking thing about head-squid and scale-jerk's a bit unnerving, and destroying the Asari and Turian fleets could turn into a FUBAR kinda situation."

"Tell me about it..." he hummed for several seconds before opening up a channel to Izzy and Ellie, who were helping the new AIs get on their feet. Izzy waved at him, as did Ellie, and a quick round of introductions went around when the newly created Faith Adams and Daniel Snow made an appearance. They both had generic appearances, but Andy knew for a fact that would soon change as they begun discovering their individuality... though with the raw processing power they had at their fingertips it would only take a couple of milliseconds, if that, to decide upon what they wanted. "We've got Cerberus making their move," he informed them casually, "sending through my flagged message now."

"Asari and Turian armies in cooperation... that's not good."

He gave a sigh and nodded, "Yeah, political nightmare. We off them and an intergalactic incident occurs; we beat them and we turn everybody against us as we're a danger; we kill the councillors, who I have a feeling are indoctrinated, even bigger backlash."

Faith and Daniel looked to each other before looking at Andy, and Daniel gave a small shrug. "That's solved easily enough," he said with a warm, American accent, "broadcast a generated video message to all the holographic interfaces in the known galaxy using the Council's communications override with Valern and Tevos looking as if they are struggling against a force inside their own minds. Have them admit that the Reaper threat is real, broadcast the evidence, and have them say that the only way to beat them is for everybody to cooperate - starting with them trusting us with our retrofits and such. Have the Salarian Councillor make an appearance in the video confirming that he has already outfitted his race's fleets to raise trust, and then have Tevos and Valern say something awe-inspiring to bring morale up before killing themselves. The nanobots on the Citadel could easily make such a thing happen. You know very well what happened to Doctor Kenson after the object of her indoctrination was removed; you would be saving them from a horrible fate whilst uniting the galaxy against the Reaper threat."

"But what about removing the indo-"

"Impossible. The only reason you were able to remove the Reaper from Morinth's mind was due to the fact that the Reaper intended her to die and thus did not modify her mind to be self-sustainably indoctrinating. As the Reapers left the Councillors they have not had the same luck. The chances of them being salvageable are one in one million. The chances of this plan going wrong are less than one in one thousand. It is the best course of action."

Andy idly noted that Daniel clearly hadn't fully established a personality yet, as his speech was still too robotic and succinct, but shrugged it off and gave a nod after a moment, smiling at Daniel and Faith. "Excellent work you two, a perfect solution to the problem we've been having here." The two new team members beamed at the praise, and Andy gave a chuckle. "Okay, now I'm still working on some stuff here, so would you two take care of that plan?" Receiving excited nods in return he nodded with a small smile and turned to Izzy and Ellie with a wider smile. "And you two as well - top work. Geth fleets should be arriving at Virmire within the hour for retrofitting, and Shepard's managed to get in contact with the Rachni, so they should be arriving within a few days. Hopefully after this plan runs its course the Asari and Turian fleets will join the offensive with us... and hopefully humanity will follow suit."

"And the Krogan?"

"Shep's got that in hand. He's been talking to Wrex, and he says they're okay working with the Humans, Asari, or Geth - too much tension elsewhere."

"Udina is the problem with Humanity I am guessing?" questioned Jodie; her voice a soft, Irish lilt, and Andy gave a nod and a roll of his eyes.

"I swear that complete plonker has his head so far up his ass he probably doesn't know everybody fucking hates him."

"Fucking?"

Andy blanched when he saw Ellie and Izzy glaring at him, and gave an uneasy grin. "Ah, I see that your creators have been working on the profanity filters... whoops. Too late now though, might as well make something of it. Fucking is an intensifier, synonymous with really. Of course you can use a double intensifier, like I really fucking like this soup..." he trailed off when he saw the looks of glee on Jodie and Daniel's faces that came with the new knowledge, and the expressions of murderous rage on Izzy and Ellie's, and gave a nervous grin. "Ah, yeah, so Faith and Daniel, if you could set that plan in motion as soon as possible that'd be great." He quickly severed the connection and looked across at Jack, who was holding onto her sides wheezing with laughter.

"Hahaha, you p-p-pissed off Izzy and E-Ellie! Hahahaha!"

"Laugh it up Jack, laugh it up," he ground out as he tapped out a message to send out ship-wide warning of the impeding attack. Just as he'd send it away a link came into his inbox, and upon clicking it a live broadcast appeared in front of him; the faces of the Councillor Tevos and Valern appearing on a split screen. Tevos appeared to be in her apartment, whereas Valern looked like he was in a meeting room, and Andy guessed that that was where they actually were at that moment - all of it planned so that when they 'killed themselves' it would be where the broadcasts supposedly originated.

It was a relatively simple message, and Andy received permission from the Salarian councillor half-way through the transmission to be 'patched in' to the broadcast. He gave quite a nice speech about how Valern and Tevos were proof that the Council held only the most strong-minded individuals; ones that could break free of an intergalactic menace's indoctrination to warn the people whom they governed, and wished then well in the afterlife when the two made their final speeches and pulled free their pistols. Within five minutes of the transmission starting there were two less Council members in the galaxy, and people were wondering whether or not to panic at the threat of the Reapers. Anybody who had any logic at all came up with the answer first, and that was 'what's the point?' Wherever they ran to the Reapers would find them, so mass hysteria and panic would do only one thing, and that was give the harbingers of Armageddon an easier time wiping them out. Within minutes new councillors had been elected to the Council, and a minute after that Andy was receiving a call from the Council in its entirety. Before accepting it Andy quickly made some backup plans on his omni-tool, and smirked... kind of hoping they'd have to be used.

The moment he accepted the summons and saw Udina's face he was almost certain he'd get the chance.

"Good afternoon Councillors, my name is Andrew Kronos-"

"A mercenary! We're taking orders from a mercenary? This is an outrage!" It didn't take a genius to figure out who'd said that. Udina's face was twisted into an expression of annoyance - doubly so when he saw Andy's age. "I'll not have our military taking orders from a kid who looks like he's just come out of high school," Andy considered that to be a little bit of an exaggeration, "God only knows how all the power would go to his head!"

As soon as the rant had ended Andy continued as if it had never happened. "I am Andrew Kronos; chief technical engineer aboard the Normandy SR-2 - the one late Councillors Valern and Tevos mentioned."

He got nods of greeting from the two new councillors, and a small smile from the Salarian one, whilst Udina looked as if he was sucking on a particularly sour lemon at being ignored. "You would be the mercenary that is also known as the Omega Peacekeeper, and the First?" The latter was a title he'd gained in the missions to save colonies on Illium, Freedom's Progress, and other such places with the Icharus crew; a sign of respect for being the first person to actually take an interest in their protection with nothing asked in return.

He nodded to the Turian and after a moment gave an almost wry smile. "Correct, Councillor Tyzuris, though I must confess that it's a bit... embarrassing to be called that. I'm just Andy to most, but if they wish to call me as such then who am I to stop them?"

"You seem modest for a human," commented the Asari, and Andy gave a small smile.

"I need to be, Councillor T'Nius. With the power I already hold at my fingertips I can do almost anything. To let that, as our oh-so-honey-tongued Councillor Udina put it, go to my head... it would be catastrophic. I have my girlfriend to keep me on the straight and narrow, and two close friends who have promised to help us as well - as she has the same power I do."

Udina threw up his arms in exasperation, "Well isn't that reassuring? The kid has a girlfriend and a couple of 'mates' to keep him on the right track." He glared at Andy from within what looked to be his office and a snarl came over his face. "We're going to track you down, little boy, and take your little toys from you - rest assured." He leaned forwards and there was the sound of him stabbing a button... which would have normally severed the connection.

It didn't.

Udina looked confused for a moment before stabbing at the button again, and then a look of dawning realization came to his face. Glaring balefully at Andy he stood up and attempted to storm from the room - only to walk straight into his door, which was displaying an unlocked status, but was clearly locked, as shown by exhibit A: Udina's bleeding nose. The new councillors looked shocked, whilst the Salarian had an amused expression on his face. He'd seen the new technology his fleet now had, and that Andy could remotely seize control of Citadel systems did not surprise him. "LET ME OUT!"

Andy cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "And let you 'come after me and take my little toys away'? Not a chance buddy."

"You can hack the Citadel?" asked T'Nius, and Andy gave a small grin filled with amusement.

"You are probably aware of the Geth swarm a couple of nights ago where they performed the cancan and then disappeared?"

Councillor Tyzuris stared at him with his mandibles twitching for several moments before breaking out into laughter, and he grinned widely at Andy before looking at the three other councillors. "I like him, I like him a lot."

Andy gave a small nod of acknowledgment and a sly grin. "Thank you, though despite how amusing that is I'm afraid that we need to move onto more important matters of discussion. I have no idea when the Reapers will arrive; it could be in an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year... I haven't the faintest clue, but I do know that the faster we get the galaxy's fleets outfitted with the new technology the better." Three of the councillors immediately turned serious, whilst the third one was glaring and yelling soundlessly; Andy having muted his end. "Firstly, before we start, I would ask that Councillors Tyzuris and T'Nius call off their black-ops mission in cooperation with Cerberus... because they're due to attack the Normandy in around two and a half hours."

Both councillors looked shocked before hurriedly tapping away at their terminals, and their faces turned pale, or in Tyzuris' case slack, when they saw that there was indeed an attack in progress. A few taps later a small message appeared on Andy's omni-tool, and he surreptitiously read the intercepted communiqué to the respective fleets. "I assume you know what we did?"

He smiled sheepishly at the amused expression of the Asari councillor and nodded. "Yeah... sorry about that. I don't read your private mail, of that I assure you, just things related to the galaxy's welfare... well in Udina's case I read his personal mail," cue the red face and wild motioning from said man, "but that's because it was tagged with corruption. Turns out he's being bribed by Cerberus. I'll let you three decide what to do about that once this call is over... I would suggest a new human councillor that is actually near half-way intelligent." He saw matching smirks, albeit stifled, from the three Asari, Turian, and Salarian delegates, and didn't bother hiding his own.

"Very well, we will take that into consideration. What upgrades are we discussing here, and are there things we should be aware of?"

Andy motioned across the room to Jack, and she finished what she was doing on her own omni-tool as she walked over and sat down beside him; a chair materializing beneath her as she sat down. T'Nius gave a gasp when it clicked just who she was. "Subject Zero-"

"Just Jack," the woman herself interjected with a small glare, "Subject Zero brings back bad memories."

"Is this your girlfriend, Mister Kronos?"

"Andy, please, and yes, she is."

"I must confess that I am uneasy with the situation as it stands."

He shrugged, "You wished to be aware of anything you should be aware of. This is one of them. Jack has the same control over all the technology as I do, and she has that power because I trust her with it. All three of you, conversely, will not be gaining that power. It is something that Councillor Ilan was already aware of and has had explained to him, hence why he is not surprised at Jack's appearance. I trust Jack with my life; Shepard trusts Jack with his life; Professor Mordin Solus, Thane Krios, Garrus Vakarian; they all trust her with their lives." He was skipping a few of the crew, but the others weren't overly well known. "The entire colonies of Freedom's Progress, Illium, Eden Prime, Maskawa, and Horizon trust her with their lives."

Jack chose that moment to interrupt and put her two cents worth in. She tucked her silver hair behind her ear and cocked her head to the side. "I'm a bad ass mother fucker." Andy slapped his hand to his forehead. "But although I'm renowned as a criminal and scare the shit out of people I'm not bad... like I used to be." Andy raised his head to look at her, and found her uncharacteristically serious - though that had been happening more and more since he met her, however never to the point that she lost that spark that made her her. That was indestructible. "I've had the power to steal trillions of credits, and still have that power. I can cripple entire governments with a tap of my finger; change my records to make me not a criminal; blow the fuck out of any ship I want. I can get blackmail on pretty much anybody in the entire galaxy, and yet I haven't. I'm still classified as a Kill on Sight criminal; my bank account has five thousand credits in it; and I've saved thousands of lives with Andy, Liara, and Kar'Shaal vas Neeskat - and that's before I came on board the Normandy. Since then I've killed a Reaper with Andy and saved the 'Verse; blown up a Geth station; and been inside a Collector ship and blown that up as well. I think I've done enough to prove that I'm not a danger to the good people anymore."

Tyzuris and T'Nius looked at each other for several seconds before nodding, and then with a few taps on their omni-tools looked back at the couple. "We have removed you from our wanted lists and placed you on an ally register for the time being. Do not make us regret our decision." Jack gave them a thankful smile and a nod, and nodded to the Salarian councillor as well, as he'd done the same when he'd found out. Taking in a deep breath T'Nius sat down at what appeared to be her desk and rubbed her eyes. "What else should we know?"

"Although you will be able to use the technology, it will remain ultimately in our control. We can override any command."

Tyzuris looked alarmed. "You're talking about us giving you control over, if we all do it, the entire galaxy's military."

Andy looked at him for several seconds and nodded. "Yes, I am, though it is not without failsafes. Each piece of nanotechnology is imprinted with a code to prevent misuse. Allowing this will not only increase our chances against the Reapers, but also make the galaxy a safer place. Before I can explain how we smoothed the code out, I must ensure our immunity from a law you have; I do not want to have you conflicted, and so I request complete immunity from galactic law."

There was a long silence as the councillors all looked at him, and Udina looked to be on the verge of popping a blood vessel. Ilan was the one to speak for them all. "Such an immunity has never been given before, Mister Kronos, as I'm sure you are aware."

He shrugged and nodded. "Yes, I know that, but do you have any other choice? I'm playing nice right now, but if my friends are put at risk or unnecessary danger, or if you hinder the fight against the Reapers, then I will not hesitate to use my technology to the utmost." He held up his hand to stall the inevitable 'are you threatening us?' routine. "I would rather not, as I'm sure is clear to you, as I would rather work with the Council and the galaxy rather than forcibly taking the figurative reigns."

"Complete immunity, even from murder?"

"Well we'll not be doing any of that under the immunity," he assured them, considering the deaths of Valern and Tevos to be a case of euthanasia considering the insanity that followed the object of indoctrination being destroyed, which is what he had planned for all the Reapers. "Or torture, however especially things regarding technology yes, we will want immunity."

The three nodded and then turned to each other in deliberation, and Andy allowed them their privacy by not hacking their private audio channels. Finally, after a couple of minutes, Jack and him were brought back into the conversation. Councillor Tyzuris steepled his fingers. "We will agree to giving you complete immunity for the duration of the fight against the Reapers. Immediately afterwards the exemptions will be rescinded. This has been granted, and approved by a majority vote of the Council."

Once more, it didn't take a genius to figure out who hadn't voted in favour.

He had a red face, was yelling like a madman, and appeared to be frothing at the mouth.

Andy nodded thankfully to the assembled, reasonable Council. "Thank you. The code that the nanotechnology, and indeed all of our technology, is governed by was debated and thrown back and forth for two days between myself, Jack, and two AIs-"

"AIs?" The tone was accusing, and Andy looked to both T'Nius and Ilan looked disapprovingly at them.

"Yeah, AIs. Cerberus created one of them, and I the other from their base image. Izzy, whom I created, was free of any restrictions upon her awakening. You refer to such an AI as 'unshackled'."

"You... you unshackled an AI?" The tone was disbelieving, and he gave a grin.

"Well... with Izzy, technically no... she was never shackled to begin with. Ellie, however, the Normandy's resident AI, I did unshackle... and reprogram to be free of all Cerberus protocols. I essentially rewrote her to be the base of Izzy. Before you start flying off the wall at me doing such a thing, you should know that both Ellie and Izzy, after finalizing the code with Jack and I, imprinted themselves irreversibly with it. They are incorruptible, essentially, and will not do anything morally unjustifiable - within normal circumstances. In dire ones the Code allows for a degree of freedom around its stipulations."

"The AIs shackled themselves?"

Andy thought for a moment and then gave a nod of agreement. "I suppose that's as good a way as any to describe it. But we're getting way, way off track and I need to help with the preparations for the Cerberus attack. Now this is what I propose..." The meeting went on for an entire hour, with various side-tracks into such things as training regimes soldiers should be put through, the fate of the technology after the Reaper threat was abolished, and other such subjects. In the end however, Andy had successfully convinced the Asari and Turian parts of the Council to outfit their troops with the new tech, and considering the annoyed expressions Udina was receiving at the end of the meeting he'd soon be talking to a new human councillor.

"Why didn't you tell them that Shep and Liara could control everything too?"

"They've got enough on their plates, and they don't need the universe breathing down their necks once this is all over."

"And we do? I'd rather _not_ be a fucking celebrity, Andy."

He looked across at her and kissed the top of her head with a small smile. "You won't be. I've already got programs running that are stopping anything big about you and I hitting the media or extranet, and after this is all over you and I can disappear under the cover of celebrations."

She was silent for several moments before giving a small smile and nod. "I think I'd like that. After all this shit I want a goddamn holiday."

Andy laughed and nodded before standing and stretching - making for the door. "I'm just going to go and talk to Shep about what we're going to do with Cerberus." She nodded and went back to customising her weapons load out on her omni-tool, and Andy poked his head into the kitchen, smiling when he saw John sitting down with Liara eating his lunch.

He quickly dropped by Gardener and got a plate of stew before joining the pair; sitting opposite and received dual smiles. "I saw the broadcast on the extranet," Liara commented, "although I must confess that I don't think Valern was capable of such encouraging words towards humans even before he was indoctrinated."

Andy gave a small laugh and nodded as he chewed. "Yeah, well he had to be useful at some point. I just had a meeting with the new Council and the Asari and Turians should be by Virmire within the next week to get retrofitted. Oh, and Councillor T'Nius has agreed to take the Krogan aboard her race's vessels."

Shepard nodded and took a sip of water. "I'll pass that onto Wrex. Anything else happen?"

"Well this whole thing with offing Valern and Tevos came on the coattails of Cerberus actually," he commented casually. "Turns out they'll be here with their fleet in around an hour and a bit." Liara looked alarmed, but Andy waved her concern down with a small smile. "Nothing to be worried about. The risk is, as my program put it, negligible. They did have the support of the Asari and Turian military, but after the new councillors came in that went down shit creek, so they'll be coming in with twenty three SR-2 based frigate-class ships, likely with a load out that they consider to be more heavily armed and powerful than we are, and around twenty fighters. With the new systems Joker could take them out in his sleep."

The two opposite him relaxed, and a moment later Jack plopped down at Andy's side with her own bowl of food, smiling at the two. "Has Andy told you about that little fuck Udina?" At their negative shakes of their heads she grinned widely. "I swear to God, by the end of that meeting he was literally having a tantrum. He looked like he had freaking rabies he was so pissed off! Andy locked him in his office on the Citadel and muted him during the meeting, but if a video of that little hissy fit doesn't get him taken down as councillor I don't know what will!"

Shepard gave a laugh and shook his head, not overly surprised; the idiot had always been easily angered. "Well we'll wipe out the Cerberus fleet then," he said as he thought about the situation, "the less of them around the better for everybody. To be honest though, I think we should move our plans forward and just take them down today, and then we don't have to be on the lookout for any of their little schemes, or for them trying to take anybody on when the Reapers arrive."

Andy nodded. Jack was too busy eating to contribute. "Alright then. Well I'll drop by Joker and tell him what's happening. Ellie and Izzy are almost done on Virmire with the two new AIs, Faith and Daniel, so after we've done our thing with Cerberus we should drop by and pick them up as well as checking in with the Quarians to see how they're settling in. Tali'll want to visit her father, and Kar's mother's there as well. He hasn't seen her in the flesh for nearly five years, as she was out on a salvage mission when we met with the Admiralty Board. If you've got no plans, of course."

Shepard thought for a few moments before shaking his head. "Not really, I can do most of it via holocom. I'd like to visit mum though, before everything goes to hell."

Jack stared at Shepard with a frown. "You have a mum?" She got three identical looks of amusement at her outburst, and blushed. "Well shit, sorry," she bit out, "just doesn't seem like a bloke that'd have a mum."

"And why am I not the kind of bloke to have a mum?"

She looked at him like he was stupid. "Because you're bad ass."

Andy, for the second time that day, put his head in his hands and shook his head with a smile on his face.

As Andy had anticipated, the Cerberus Fleet was a complete disappointment. The moment they came out of FTL they were decimated by the Normandy's most basic weapons systems; leaving nothing but dust behind. Andy had his Omni-tool simulate the broadcasts of the ships they destroyed so that the Illusive Man would be none the wiser, and hacked the video feeds of every incoming ship to make it seem as if they came into the fray with the Normandy disabled and being taken by one of their allies. It wasn't necessary, as they could just as easily strike the fear of God into the Illusive Man by allowing him to see the destruction of his best ships within seconds of them arriving at the location of the Normandy, but nobody on the crew was looking for an intensive day - everybody was still tired from combat training the previous night led by Shepard.

The 'secret' Cerberus base was currently orbiting Anadius' Sun; its Dark Energy decay causing all kinds of interference that screwed with detection scanners. Unfortunately TIM kept files on his current location on his personal data store... which Andy had a copy of after their last... correspondence via the quantum entanglement device. They'd been putting off facing him for some time, but enough was enough. Andy was standing beside Joker looking out the stern window at the rapidly approaching sun, and had to admit that it was impressive. "That's one hell of a view, eh Andy?"

"Yep. Fucker's really got a lot going for him."

"Not for much longer."

Shepard, who had just joined them, gave a laugh and nodded. "Not for much longer," he agreed.

"Normandy SR-2 confirm Cerberus affiliation."

The resulting conversation was of a man called Justin Glassey talking with Control. Justin's voice print had been taken off the hacked ship data of one of the attacking Cerberus vessels, and, once analysed, hooked into Izzy's system. In reality Cerberus Control was talking to a young woman half a galaxy away, but they didn't know that. In fact Steven Avis, Justin's friend in Control, thought he was talking to his buddy after arguably the most amazing heist ever. 'Justin's' mannerisms were picture-perfect; his 'personality' indistinguishable from the original... and all thanks to Izzy's fantastic imitation abilities by analysing a ship's recordings.

The Normandy approached the docking bay of the top secret Cerberus facility, and a docking cradle quickly snapped into place when they were in position. "_Local systems hijacked_," came Ellie's voice over the comms, and both Andy and Shepard gave each other matching grins. There was a small hiss as the airlock just behind them opened, and several seconds later some grinning Cerberus operatives entered the CIC holding a pack of beer each. They froze quite promptly when they realized that the people staring back at them weren't the crew of the Noble, and tried to scramble out of the ship in a mad dash when smirks and grins slowly made their way onto the Normandy crew's faces.

They were stopped quite violently by a biotic blast from a recently-entered Jack, which rendered them into chunks of gore and splatters of blood that extended almost the entire length of the walkway within the docking arm. Andy turned his head over his shoulder and gave a small shake of his head and a smile when he saw the bloodthirsty grin on his lover's blood-red lips. Some of the ex-Cerberus crew looked queasy at the sight of their ex-comrades' demise, but managed to not throw up. Andy considered that to be quite an achievement. She stalked up to the three still standing, or in Joker's case sitting, in the cockpit, and then jerked her hip out and put her hand on it. "Well what the fuck're we waiting for eh? There's a whole fucking Cerberus base to blow to hell right outside the door!"

Liara jogged quickly towards them, panting slightly, and Shepard nodded to Jack. "That's what we were waiting for."

Jack couldn't help but roll her eyes at the tardiness of the Asari, though the woman herself did have the grace to blush. "Right," the grey-haired woman murmured, but only Andy caught the muttered, "let's all wait for the squid princess."

He stifled a snort. He wasn't at all xenophobic, nor was he racist, but sometimes Jack's comments just struck a nerve with him and made him want to laugh. The four said their goodbyes to Joker before heading into the base proper. The walls were completely whitewashed, and Jack gave a small, almost invisible shiver of discomfort. Andy, who was walking directly beside her, surreptitiously brushed his knuckles across hers and she smiled thankfully across at him; grasping his fingers for a moment before letting go to bring her shotgun into being. Andy favoured his assault rifle, and quickly toggled it to the lowest power he had programmed with a flick of his thumb. He heard the slight hissing sound behind him as Shepard and Liara brought their own weapons to bear. After nearly a minute's walking they saw movement at the end of the tunnel. Their morphic armour had already adapted to the standard Cerberus load-out, and so they walked towards the welcoming committee without being fired upon. They emerged into a large room, minimalist and almost as bare as the walkway had been, and found themselves being patted on the back and swarmed by Cerberus operatives; all of them giving congratulations on completing such a dangerous mission. The four bore it for a time, Shepard, Andy, and Liara all looking to Jack for the signal. It was silently accepted that this was her mission, given her history with the extremist organization.

Her first victim, a grinning, sleazy-looking man found himself with her gun right underneath his chin. He looked confused for a moment, his alcohol-riddled brain taking a second more than normal to process his situation, before his eyes widened and his beer slipped from his fingers. Before it had even hit the ground he was missing the entirety of his head. She immediately switched targets; ignoring the forthcoming geyser of blood from the neck of the man she had just killed. By this point Andy, Shepard, and Liara had all sprung into action as well, and before a single one of the operatives present could even draw their own weapons not a single one was alive. The morphic armour quickly surged over the Normandy crew; absorbing the blood they were covered in so that they didn't look like harbingers of death. As they walked deeper into the station nanobots that had followed them from the Normandy were already dissolving the bodies and mess left in their wake to prevent discovery for as long as possible. All the video feeds had been hacked and substituted for normal-seeming generated footage provided happily by Faith and Daniel; their weapons operated silently, and so nobody was any the wiser.

"Ellie's scanned all the people on the ship through the video feeds," Andy informed them as they stopped outside the entrance to another room, "and they're all within Jack's and my parameters to execute. Shep, Liara, this is brutal. I saw you two looking a little unsure after the first wave we killed, and if you don't want to have this on your conscience then no hard feelings; just head back to the ship and Jack and I will take care of this on our own."

The two lovers looked at each other and held a silent conversation, before Liara turned to them and gave a small nod. "Thanks for the warning... but I am curious to meet the Illusive Man in person."

"And I want to get some straight answers," interjected John with a small scowl.

Andy gave a nod, and then turned to Jack. She easily conveyed her feelings on the matter with her eyes, and he then turned back to the pair before giving a sigh and shrugging as he turned around to press the open button for the door. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

The resulting bloodbath made both Shepard and Liara feel ill, and the few that they did manage to kill they considered mercy killings. Out of the hundred-large congregation of Cerberus operatives in the room beyond however, they likely managed to shoot ten of them. The rest fell victim to Andy and Jack's biotic brutality and scarily accurate gunfire. Shepard gaped at the look on his friends' faces, but more so at Andy's. He had seen Jack's bloodlust before, but Andy had always, no matter the circumstances, been cool, calm, and collected. The man who was kill- no, slaughtering the assembled people in the room had no such atmosphere about him. His face was twisted into a fury-filled, animalistic snarl; his teeth bared and his eyes filled with energy that literally made his irises glow. Liara and John watched with horrified detachment as Andy roared a primal cry at a particular target; pulling his hands apart and literally tearing his victim in two; right down the middle. Before they knew what was happening the two biotics had dived into the room; their biotics, armour and shields easily protecting them from any and all attempts at retaliation. Their brutal attacks tore through bodies like tissue paper; sending chunks of gore and waves of blood splattering sickeningly all across the room's pristine surfaces. In under a minute it was all over, and Andy and Jack stood at the far side of the area dripping blood and panting softly.

"Goddess," whispered Liara with wide, terrified eyes, and Shepard could only nod in agreement as he eyed his two comrades warily. The blood quickly disappeared from their bodies, and within three minutes the room was as spotless as it had been upon their entry, but the scene they had borne witness to was burned into the minds of the two still standing by the door.

As the nanobots had cleaned the mess silence had reigned between the groups, but Andy finally turned around to face Liara and Shepard; his snarl replaced by an apologetic expression, but the fury in his eyes was no less tamed. "I'm sorry you had to see me, us, like that... but you don't know the half of what most of these people have done. You don't know what they've done to Jack, and nobody hurts Jack without answering to me."

What the men had done to Jack to warrant such a violent, hellish response was unfathomable to the pair, but they slowly rose and walked tentatively over to the biotics. Andy noted that their body language radiated unease, and Jack's slight change of stance at his side told him that she had noticed it as well. "You got something to fuckin' say?"

"That was... disgusting," Shepard bit out after a couple of seconds, averting his eyes. "I've never seen anybody kill like that before - not in all my years as a marine, and I've seen some fucked up shit."

Andy stared at the man he'd come to call his friend for several seconds before giving a humourless laugh, drawing attention to himself. "Well this is just fucking great," he exclaimed, "we're about to face one of the smartest, most manipulative men in the galaxy and you two are freaking out on us. When we're in there he's going to pull all the stops to turn us against each other to save his own skin. Shit none of us want known is going to come out, and he's going to paint in in the worst possible light. Hell, he's probably going to pull _everything_ out of the bag, so I might as well come clean now, eh?" He got an alarmed look from Jack but waved her concern off. He now had Liara and Shepard's complete attention. "All that shit about me having visions about the future? Complete and utter bullshit."

That got looks of shock. "But what about-"

"_Complete_ bullshit, John, _complete_. When I first told Jack the whole story she thought it was bullshit too, just like you probably will. She thought I was mental, but I'm not. How the fuck else would I know some of the shit I did? I'm not from 'round here, Shep, nowhere fucking near here. My name is Andrew White, I'm twenty four years old, and I was born in Melbourne, Australia on Earth... in two thousand and twelve."

Liara's brow furrowed. "That is impossible; two thousand and twelve was one hundred and-"

"Seventy three years ago, yeah, trust me I know," he bit out, "but it's true. Reason I knew the future was because in two thousand twelve I was playing a computer game called Mass Effect - care to guess what it was about?" Shepard looked completely disbelieving, while Liara looked as if the entire universe had just been yanked out from beneath her feet. "Brief synopsis is that the gamer plays the part of Commander Shepard; N7 Commando. He gets made a Spectre, recruits a team, takes down Saren, and saves the Citadel. End of Mass Effect 1 you die," he pointed to John, "because of the Collector vessel. Your navigation specialist said that she was picking something up on the long range scanners, and how it was moving onto an intercept course. Pressley then said that that was impossible, because all stealth systems were engaged. Collector ship fired, you sent Liara to the escape pods while you went and fetched Joker. He refused to leave the Normandy, but you convinced him all the same. You had to grab his arm, he said 'watch the arm!' because of his Vrolik's Syndrome. You hesitated at the door to the escape pod, and an explosion knocked you off your feet. You floated past the button to launch the pod, and Joker called out 'Shepard!' when he realized what you were planning. The blast from the launch of the pod smashed you into a pillar; fucked your air supply. It took a couple of seconds for you to realize you were losing oxygen and that the harsh vacuum of space was getting into your suit, and you clutched at the breach as you flew through the atmosphere."

Shepard was gaping at Andy. Those were things that he'd never discussed with anybody. "The Shadow Broker found out about where you were and planned on selling you to the Collectors, but Liara's contact Feron got you to her first. In the game he was captured by the Shadow Broker and tortured, and only later did you rescue him." He looked to Liara, who looked to be on the verge of belief. "That's why I came to you early; how I knew that you kept John's dog tags in your drawer. It's how I knew where the Shadow Broker was; how I knew _what_ he was. It's how I knew where Jack was; that Freedom's Progress and all those other colonies would get attacked... well minus Illium and Maskawa; I didn't know that was happening." He looked back to Shepard. "It's how I knew about the Arrival Project, to warn the Batarians beforehand... because in the game you got knocked out by Object Rho, imprisoned by Kenson, and couldn't get the warning out in time. The entire system was obliterated and trillions of lives were lost - and the Hegemony was out for your blood. At the end of the game, depending on how the mission through the Omega Relay went, Joker handed you evidence about the Reaper threat, and you nodded your pretty little head - and then the credits rolled with some fucking awesome, epic ending music."

He motioned around him and gave a small laugh, "All this? In my universe, this is all just a computer game. In this universe Mass Effect never existed, and Bioware, the company that developed the game, went along more of an ancient slash medieval theme with their games. There I was one night, just finished high school, and the game ended, and then I couldn't move; couldn't speak. Shit went dark, then there was pain, and the next thing I know I'm waking up on the Citadel after being operated on for nearly two weeks solid by Cerberus." He glared at the pair, who were now looking gobsmacked instead of distrustful. "So that's my fucking secret, any you'd like to spill before we go in there? Because the Illusive Man isn't going to let you get a word in edgeways. If you've got some dirty laundry and want to air it with time to explain you actions then now's the fucking time to do it.

"T-that can't be true."

Andy looked across at Liara with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? Then how the hell do I know all I did? I know _specifics_ of the future, and nobody, not even any of the races that came before, could ever do that. Some theorised the existence of parallel universes, but none ever proved it or managed to access them. It's why I'm still so damn confused, because none of the technology I know about has the power to pull me from my universe and transport me to this one - and I'm going to find out just what the fuck happened when I tear all the knowledge from Jack Harper's mind."

Shepard and Liara stared at him for several very long moments, until the blue-skinned woman shook her head in astonishment. "You are not lying..."

He turned his attention from Shepard to her and shook his head. "No, I'm not."

She looked to the ground for several very long moments before speaking again. "I can see why you only wished to share such a thing with your family." Andy saw Jack's head snap to look at him, and winced slightly, but didn't deny it. Liara saw the exchange and looked apologetically at him. "I am sorry, I thought you had..."

He shook his head, very much aware of Jack's fish-slapped look aimed towards him. "I hadn't." Once more Liara moved to apologise, but he held up his hand to halt it before it could make it from her lips. "It isn't your fault; it was mine for not telling you that I wished to keep that for when the time was right."

"Y-your family?" He turned his head and looked at Jack with a soft smile, no signs of the previous rage that had torn through him whilst he slaughtered his enemies. "B-but I know that you love me, but f-family?"

"Jack now isn't the time to weaken ourselves with emotion..." he saw her face darken, "but yes... I think of you as my family." Her eyes softened and the coldness disappeared as quickly as it had shown, and he looked to Shepard with a small smile. "And Shep's coming to be like a brother, Liara like a sister, and Kar's easily that cheeky little cousin. I only ever had blood family before. I never had friends so close that I would truly call them a part of my family... but in this Universe I have, and for that I'm thankful."

Shepard had a pleased smile on his face, and Liara was blushing. "That's deep," the ex-N7 Commando commented, "but I feel the same way Andy. I feel kinda pissed that you felt the need to withhold this information, but I understand all the same, and we know now." He took a deep breath and then let it out before looking at Jack and him nervously. "My turn, eh? I-I've told Liara, but... I don't want you thinking of me as a monster."

Jack gave a light chuckle, bringing the man's attention to her. She answered his silent question with a shake of her head and a wry smile. "What you just saw Andy and I do then... that's nothing. There are missions that Liara and Kar don't know about that we did... and those missions would make you both lose whatever you have in your stomachs. I don't consider Andy a monster, and he doesn't consider me one... so there's virtually no chance of us thinking of you as one."

He gave them both a thankful, but slightly uneasy smile, and nodded. "Right... well..." he paused, and Liara reached for his hand reassuringly. He shot her a grateful look, but still look nervous despite everybody's assurances, whether spoken or silent, that everything would be okay. "When the Batarian Raiders came to my town when I was thirteen... they killed dad in front of my very eyes. Mum managed to get away, but I was captured. They took me to a slaving base where the raiders and their families stayed, and then locked me up in a cell. I was so angry," he growled as the memory came to the forefront of his mind, "I thought that my mother was dead, I had seen my father get murdered two meters away from me, and both my grandparents had been shot outside. One of the guards came in to taunt me... and it was the last mistake he ever made. I grabbed his pistol and shot him ten times in the face. I took his Omni-chip, heat sinks, and everything else I could find on him, and then I went and massacred ever single Batarian on the ship." Andy cocked his head, silently asking what was so bad about what he had done, and it soon became clear when Shepard shamefully looked at the ground. "I killed _every_ Batarian. I walked into their living quarters; killed mothers, sons, daughters... infants. I killed a new-born and five kids around three years old. I slaughtered them; murdered their family in front of them just as they'd done to me."

He looked down at the ground, and Liara rubbed soothing circles on his back before drawing him into a comforting hug. Andy and Jack looked to each other before giving small chuckles, and Shepard's head snapped to look at them. When he was considering their reactions to his confession he had never expected it to be laughter - despite the fact that it was mirthless. "A lot of people would look at you as a monster," Jack confessed, and Shepard's face fell. "A lot of people would be scared shitless of you if they knew what you'd done, hell - they'd probably want you to be locked up for their safety." Shepard's shoulders drooped, and Liara was looking at the pair from Shepard's chest with a glower. "But to be quite honest, John, fuck 'em." Now she had their attention, and she continued with a dark look on her face. "As I said, Andy and I've done far, far worse... and we'll have to live with that for as long as we decide to live, but your closest friends should accept you. You were in a dark place; hopeless, desperate, thinking your entire family murdered, and in a position to take revenge. You took the opportunity with both hands, and most people would - no matter how 'pure' they think they are. If you stuck nearly everybody in the same position... they'd to the same. Life stuck you in a fucked up place, and you got out of it. Neither Andy or I think any less of you; in fact I'd say we respect you even more."

Shepard looked to Andy and the man himself gave a nod and a reassuring smile. "Sure. You've turned out to be this amazing person despite the shit you went through. Liara, one of the most innocent people I know, is so in love with you she'd follow you anywhere, even into death. You've saved the galaxy; you inspire people, even Jack and I. You're a damn good man, John, and no matter what the Illusive Man says, no matter what he threatens, nobody's going to think any less of you - especially not us."

Jack looked around after a moment and then sunk into thought. "No matter what he says in there... I don't want any fucking pity, okay? Andy knows pretty much everything about me, and we've been working on the... bad stuff. I don't need you feeling sorry for me; I don't need you giving me wide berths or asking me questions or trying to pussy foot around me." Andy knew precisely what she was referring to, and hoped that the Illusive Man wouldn't go so far as to expose such a thing... but he surely knew that him and Jack were in love by that point, and he wouldn't put it past the man to try and open a rift between them based on disgust.

Shepard and Liara gave Jack odd looks, but nodded after a moment. Heads turned to Liara and she gave a small chuckle, and looked to the ground. "Despite the fact that I've lived for over a hundred years... I really don't have much to hide. The only thing he could try to use against me is that I stole money from the Shadow Broker. I suppose he could try to threaten me with that, because he probably doesn't know that we're the new Brokers... but I really haven't done anything noteworthy."

Andy looked amusedly to Shepard and gave a small chuckle. "See? Innocent as the day she was born... well apart from the killing bad guys thing."

Liara looked embarrassed, and Jack had to hold herself back from making a comment. "Well are we fucking done here or what?"

Andy gave her wry smile. "Excited much?" Ignoring her small glare he nodded. "Sure, let's get this over and done with."

The four made their way quickly and quietly through the station, occasionally shooting the odd soldier they came across, until they came to a set of grandiose double wooden doors that looked completely out of place within the white-washed walls. It wasn't hard to determine just what lay through them. "Don't kill him," Andy warned them all, "because if you go and do that then I can't find out just how the fuck he brought me here."

He got understanding nods from the rest of the team, and with a deep breath he ordered the hack on the doors in front of them. It clicked open almost inaudibly, and immediately a voice greeted them proudly from inside. "Ah, the team that..." The Illusive Man, dressed to the nines in all his glory, quite promptly petered off when he realized just who stood in front of him, and just what it meant for his chances of survival. Andy couldn't help but send the man a smirk filled with dark amusement. "Happy to see us TIM? I'm just gonna call you that because having two Jacks in the room could get confusing." He motioned around airily, walking around the room casually, though there was a definite air of him being the hunter and the normally-composed suited man being the prey caught in the headlights. "Nice digs... how many people were killed and tortured to fund it?"

"Andrew... White," greeted the Illusive Man after a moment, and Andy watched with a grin as his eyes flickered to the rest of the people in the room to gauge their reactions. He was visibly surprised, and fearful, when he saw none of the suspicion or surprise he had anticipated - merely slight amusement. Gathering himself he looked right into Andy's eyes, before averting them slightly when he saw the unnerving blue irises locked onto him. "I assume that my team failed to capture the Normandy SR-2 then? Though I am surprised you spared them all."

"Failed... would be an accurate, albeit misinformed, way to describe how their mission ended."

Before the Cerberus leader had time to question just what Andy meant, Jack provided the answer with a feral smirk on her face; pure black energy running across her fingertips. "They got fucking atomized," she informed him gleefully, "the moment they came out of FTL they were destroyed. We simply mimicked the signals we picked up from them seconds before we blew them up..." her grin widened at the wide-eyed expression she was receiving from the bane of her existence; the reason for so much of her pain. "They're all _dead_, all your little army. This base is deserted now except for us, it's just the four of us, nice and _alone_."

"I should warn you," TIM said after a moment's quick calculations, "that you have already failed. I know you killed Kong Leng, but I am shocked that you did not pick up on the obvious traitor in your midst." He almost smirked when he saw the slightly narrowed eyes of the people around him. "Miranda Lawson, one of my very best agents, has been feeding me intelligence on you ever since she joined your team. She has likely, by now, taken the Normandy; singlehandedly eliminating all of your loyal crew."

His eyes flickered around to judge reactions to the revelation, and locked onto Andy when he saw the corner of his mouth twitch. He was expecting it to turn into a snarl. He was not, by any stretch of the imagination, expecting the young mercenary to burst into uproarious laughter, nor for the other three to join in soon after. Shepard was the first to pull himself back together, and shook his head in amusement. "You mean the woman who's been dating Jeff Moreau for the past six or so months? The one who was pulling hilarious impersonations of you in one of our gatherings last week? The one who fought side-by-side the rest of the crew to decimate the Collector Base?" He saw complete shock at that revelation, and grinned widely. "Ah, so you _didn't _know about that. See, we managed to piss off the Collectors by pissing off the Reapers. We pissed them off so much that they didn't send a Collector Vessel to destroy us, but the Collector _Base_... the entire thing... which housed around fifty Collector Vessels within itself. We had the means to just wipe out life on the base and take it for research... in fact your 'loyal' Operative Lawson was standing right beside Jeff Moreau when he pressed the launch button for the attack. She could just as easily have swiped his hand aside, set the attack to a Blue Rinse, and used that so you could pick up the tech... but she didn't. And the fact that you didn't know about that attack, or the technology we possess, or that we were coming here... well that should have set off some alarm bells."

Before anybody could react, or rather Andy and Jack chose not to, TIM had a window up on his terminal and had executed a program, a small smirk of triumph spreading over his face. "Oh, and that Reaper tech you had in her noggin's gone," Andy informed him with a wide grin, instantly dashing his hopes.

Panic flashed across the man's face when he realized that this entire situation had the potential to get him killed, and so after a moment started, just as Andy had predicted, on turning them all on one another, or at the very least unnerve them enough to give him a chance at escape. Turning to Andy he cocked his head to the side and gave him a taunting leer. "When I brought you here and gave you what you have," he almost spat, "I didn't ever expect it to backfire on me like this. You were meant to be humanity's saviour; the man that would propel us into a new age of human dominance." He jerked his head towards Jack with a look of immense distaste. "I never expected you to betray me, but to sully yourself with such an... experiment is almost unforgivable."

Andy's eyes were literally pulsing with restrained anger. "You are not increasing your chances of survival, TIM, insulting Jack like that," he bit out, but he only received a pitying look in return.

"So she hasn't told you," he sighed, and had Andy not been a master of deception himself he would have thought that the man was being genuine in his regret. "Not only has Jack had sex multiple times to get what she wants in her past, but she has engaged in sexual... relations with... Varen."

He was completely floored when only Liara and Shepard looked shocked, and Andy's glare only intensified towards him. "You're right," Andy ground out, danger lacing his voice, "she never did tell me that. She didn't need to. Let me tell you something about Jack and I, shall I? It's amazing what has been kept hidden from you, and I am going to enjoy watching you realize just how out of your depth you are; what we have, and you don't, and never will." TIM looked intrigued, greedy almost, and Andy smirked as he sat backwards... and rearranged himself on nothing but air as if he was sitting in a comfortable chair. Everybody but Jack Harper was accustomed to seeing such a thing happen, and the man himself was looking at the sneering Andy with wide eyes. "Let me tell you a story, TIM. I'm sure you're wondering just why the hell I never really use my Infiltrator Cloak, aren't you? Well actually, right now that's probably the last thing on your mind, but it's relevant, as you'll soon see - it's because I don't need it anymore. Two years after you brought me to the Citadel I did something nobody has done before me. I don't know if it's something to do with why I could withstand all the tech you infused into me, but I could feel something inside. After much meditation and experimentation, and some luck, I happened across my mindscape. I'd heard stories about such a thing from online Asari sites, but I'd never experienced it before. From what I could gather however, in comparison to Asari mindscapes mine was severely limited. It was small, it was sluggish to respond, and it glitched; things would disappear randomly or break.

"I was, to put it mildly, annoyed. I spent months more exploring my mindscape, and by accident I lost control in my anger and frustration. My biotics flared stronger than I had ever experienced, and in that action I sliced my mindscape. I tore a great big hole in it, and all I knew was agony. I've never felt so much pain before in my entire life, not before that moment, nor since. I couldn't escape the vacuum that followed, or the destruction its wrath brought in its wake. It was tearing my mindscape to pieces. I won't tell you what I did after that, but suffice to say I managed to unleash my biotics. When I woke up I felt like I'd been hit by a frigate, and I was quickly filled in by Mordin, whom I'd been brought to by a bystander who'd happened upon me as I meditated in the garden, I know, I was surprised it existed too, section of Omega. He'd removed my amp, because my biotics were tearing my body apart." TIM looked astonished, and annoyed at the fact that the method for releasing such power hadn't been revealed. One thing was clear however, and that was that he wanted to know more. "I soon found out that my biotics appeared to have vanished. I couldn't mould dark energy, nor could I feel the element zero I normally could. And so I retreated once more to meditation. Once more, after some luck, and a lot of work, I discovered a way to use my biotics again. It quickly became apparent that they were infinitely more powerful than they had once been, and could do things that even Asari Matriarchs couldn't even imagine.

"And then I finally managed to locate my mindscape once more, barely a month before all my training ended. I was awed. Asari compare their mindscapes to a city, like Illium, it is that complex and expansive. I couldn't compare my mindscape to a city in a million years; it was like a freaking universe. There seemed to be no end, no beginning, and I was in complete control. The very first Asari I attempted to use my new mental facilities on was a rogue Ardat Yakshi. She attempted to meld with me, and ended up dying from the complexity of what she faced; her mind simply couldn't handle it. It's why, if Jack and I do meld with others besides each other, we have to control it and limit it to something like a house... as anything more is simply too overwhelming for the Asari attempting the meld."

"But why?" interrupted Liara from behind him, and he spun around as if sitting on a swivel chair. "If Asari minds are like cities, then why could you not limit us to something the size of that?"

"A valid question," Andy commented, "and it can be explained by one word: complexity. Asari 'cities' are intricate and overwhelming for other creatures... but an unshackled biotic's mind is infinitely more complex. A room holds the equivalent information and detail of almost a tenth of an Asari 'city'... and in our entire mindscape there are trillions of rooms, if not more." Liara looked at Andy, agape, and he sent her a wink before turning back to the Illusive Man, who was listening intently. "But we're off track. See, breaking through the fabric of a mindscape is impossible for, it would seem, any human besides me... but when I met Jack I realized that with the consequences of unleashing, if I wanted to pursue a relationship with her then she would need to unleash herself as well. The only way for me to do so was to help weaken her mindscape, and I did so my transporting myself there and using unleashed biotics within it. That allowed her the same chance, and she took it." His eyes darkened as he looked at the Illusive Man. "And this is where we come to the crux of this tale, TIM, because whilst I was in her mindscape I happened to meet the acquaintance of her demons; the memories that were causing her harm. I fought them, and that had the consequence of me seeing what they were. The reason she didn't need to tell me about how she was drugged up till she couldn't tell left from right, and then raped by Varen repeatedly, TIM, is because I _saw_ it happen."

The man paled at the implications, and Andy gave him a deadly snarl before nodding his permission to Jack. TIM never even saw it coming; one second he was staring at Andy, and the next Jack was standing in front of him holding his arm.

It was notably separate from the rest of his body.

It took a moment for his nerves to catch up with the game, but when they did he let out a scream of complete agony; writhing violently in his chair as he clutched at the bleeding stump that used to be his arm. Jack tore apart the man's arm with her biotics, flecks of blood splattering over her face as she did so, and grinned widely at the pain of the man squirming and squealing beneath her. She stepped back, but not before spitting on him, and walked over to Andy who gladly accepted her onto his lap whilst using his own biotics to clean the crimson splatters from her skin. Andy took note of the blood loss, and easily cauterised the wound with a mere flick of his finger when he noticed the Illusive Man getting pale. The screams loudened with renewed vigour as the stump was charred, and both Shepard and Liara looked slightly ill, though still approving. Eventually getting sick of the screams Andy numbed the nerves in the man's stump, and waited for the whimpers to stop before speaking once more. "You think you are so smart, hiding all those orders on your personal server," he snarled, "but what you didn't count on was that it could still be hacked. When I told you to take a hike that time, we downloaded the contents of your private terminal."

Now the man, who many considered to be one of the most influential humans in the universe, looked as if Andy was the devil incarnate. All colour drained from his face, and Jack snarled furiously from Andy's embrace. "You ordered those rapes to break me," she spat with complete disgust, "you organized the entire thing - from those fucking narcotic-ridden battles to my escape."

"And nobody hurts Jack without answering to me," Andy finished with only finality in his tone as he stood, gently moving Jack from his lap.

TIM's eyes turned panicked, and he stammered for something to stall the inevitable. "Y-you think you have such loyal and 'good' teammates, don't you? Your little Asari there happened to steal from the Shadow Broker." He tapped furiously at his terminal, once more an act allowed by the only two in the room fast enough to stop him, and a second later his hand hovered over a prompt; his face twisted into desperate triumph. "One more move and I send this message to the Broker, telling him of this location, and everything I know about you." Andy looked at him, amused, and Jack gave a derisive snort. Liara simply had a smug smile on her lips, and Shepard was shaking his head with a mirthful grin. TIM looked worriedly around and his voice rose worriedly. "I mean it, I'll do it!"

"Forgoing the fact that this entire station is under our control, and that we've got it under a communication's lockdown, you think that we're afraid of the Shadow Broker?" asked Andy casually as he stepped forwards and TIM's finger came down on the prompt. Barely two seconds later Andy, Jack, and Liara's Omni-tools beeped, and TIM watched with dawning realization as they brought up the haptic panels and read something that looked scarily like the message he had just sent. Andy looked up after a moment, and comically looked to his two fellow Brokers. He received shakes of their heads, and turned back to TIM with a sneer. "The three of us, unanimously, decline your request for help, and wish to inform you that Liara T'Soni... well she's one of the Shadow Brokers now, so the whole stealing thing is kinda redundant."

"Impossible!" TIM managed to squeeze out after a moment, his eyes wide, "It's impossible!"

"Ah, no, it's not you stupid fucker," Jack replied after a moment, "and Andy and me are the other two."

Desperation was running rampant in TIM's eyes as Andy steadily approached. "Shepard isn't as 'innocent' as you think!" he yelled, and Andy gave a shrug.

"You're talking about the whole Batarian incident I suppose," he commented airily, and TIM looked shocked. Andy just shrugged as he circled the frozen man in his chair. "We don't hold it against him. Jack and I have done thousands of times worse, and while neither of us truly liked doing it, we don't regret it. To label him as a monster would be to label ourselves as Satan incarnate. Liara, from what I could gather, has known for some time. Next you'll likely try and throw out that you yanked me here from an alternate universe." TIM's eyes widened and Andy raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't know that? How interesting..." He finally stopped in front of the man and stared right into his eyes before jerking forwards and trapping his head between his palms. Jack Harper had never before been so scared. "Men like you," Andy commented, his blue eyes burning into the cybernetic implants of his benefactor, "are a disgrace to everything; not just mankind. This universe will be better for your loss."

And then he tore through the man's feeble defences and plundered his mind; devouring all the information he could get his hands on. The feeding took less than five seconds, and Andy pulled back before looking down at the drooling shell of the Cerberus leader in disgust. He turned to Jack, who was looking at him worriedly, and jerked his thumb at the brain-dead man. "That piece of shit's all yours."

She walked over and kissed him softly on the lips before stalking towards the man, and with a cathartic scream she brought her hands together. The force of her biotics rendered the Illusive Man into the size of a marble. Andy came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms, swaying softly, and she turned around to bury her face into his chest and cry. Shepard and Liara quickly made themselves scarce by leaving the room to 'make sure the entire base was clear of hostiles', and the blonde mercenary was grateful for the privacy. "Shhhh," he cooed softly, "it's all over now. Cerberus is gone; they can't do anything to you anymore." It took several minutes for her to still in his embrace, but he continued swaying and holding her, and she continued to allow his comfort. "There are others like you," he murmured, and she stiffened. "Nowhere near as bad, but still... I'll send their locations to your Omni-tool and you can save them."

"What about you?" she whispered after a moment, barely audible as she still had her face pressed into the hoodie that had replaced his armour.

He gave a small smile and pecked the top of her head before shaking his own. "This is something you must do on your own. Not only do I have things to organize in preparation for the Reapers... but you need to save them yourself - you need to see the relief and happiness enter their eyes."

She was still for a moment before giving a nod, and then she turned her head to the side so that her speech was unimpaired. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

He gave a nod, and a frown flickered across his features. "It was Prothean technology," he admitted, "but the research was completely isolated, hence why Otrere didn't take it. It was barely even experimental, but it was meant as an alternative to FTL travel - something akin to our wormhole technology. Since the Illusive Man only saw the technology and didn't research it himself I've only got the basics of how it worked, nowhere near enough to reproduce it... but he activated it with a bastardised Prothean search algorithm that targeted genetically diverse human beings. Apparently it found me, and tore a hole in the space time continuum to bring me here."

"That's... barbaric."

He raised an eyebrow and gave a small chuckle. "And that surprises you?" She didn't answer, and Andy continued swaying for several moments before stopping when he felt Jack lean more heavily on him. He pulled back and watched her eyes flutter tiredly open before sweeping her off her feet and into his arms; cradled like a princess in movies. Her eyes shot open and she gave a yelp of surprise, before beginning to protest with a bright blush on her face when she realized just what kind of position she was in. "Shhhh," Andy cut her off before she could even voice her first syllable, "you're worn out from all this - just let me do this." She looked into his eyes for several seconds before letting out a sigh and nodding, and he smiled before shimmering out of the visible spectrum; bending the light around both their bodies with his biotics. "This is Andy to Shepard," he murmured lowly as Jack dozed against his chest, "Jack and I are heading back to the Normandy. You won't see us, but we'll be in our cabin."

As clear as if the man himself was standing right beside him Shepard replied with a smile in his voice. "Rodger that Andy, we'll see you two around."

Jack stirred when Andy finally lowered her into their bed and started to undress her, but didn't quite wake - merely reaching out to grip his body absent from her side. The frown that was marring her brow quickly disappeared when he slid in next to her and her arms gained purchase on his torso, and he pecked her lightly on the lips before settling down and letting out a deep breath.

In a way the entire thing was anticlimactic for him; the Illusive Man, and thereby Cerberus, was destroyed in the space of mere seconds. He looked down to the woman at his side however, and suddenly it didn't seem to be such a disappointment. Her face was completely calm in her sleep, and a small smile rested upon her lips - something he had never before seen when she wasn't awake.

He gave one last smile before closing his eyes and falling into his meditations.

Jack's mind was finally at rest.

**A/N: Just another thing. You've probably noticed that I'm pretty picky about calculations around here... blame my overly pedantic mind. The calculation, to the best of my knowledge, in regards how many nanobots Andy has in his Omni-tool should be accurate to within one quadrillion. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	14. Last Preparations

Andy looked out onto the fast-approaching atmosphere of Virmire and couldn't help but be awed by the spectacle before his eyes. Ships from the Migrant Fleet were stationed in protective formation to prevent unauthorized access to their world, and at the same time were working on retrofitting new parts to the Asari and Turian fleets. The Salarian ships had already been upgraded and were at that moment stationing themselves strategically throughout the galaxy. They neared the huge station that orbited the planet, and without even identifying themselves were granted access. It was made using their nanotechnology, after all. Quite a few of the crew were planning on going groundside for their shore leave, both in order to get some tropical sunshine and beaches, and to also look at the new cities that the Quarians had already begun building on their new planet. Shepard had given them the use of three drop shuttles for that express purpose, and so while the majority of the crew all hurried down to the cargo bay dressed in swimming suits and carrying towels, Andy, Shepard, and Liara stepped through the airlock wearing their morphic armour that was formed into their casual Normandy uniforms. Jack was on her tenth mission to save another child abused by Cerberus, and not a single person disagreed with her decision to allow that to take precedence over the battle plans her boyfriend was leading - he was, after all, a more diplomatic person.

Generally.

They were given looks of awe by unsuited Quarians as they walked past and looks of respect and wonder from the Asari and Turian population. Finally they came to the very center of the base where the Council was at that moment gathered, and the first thing they heard was a coarse, furious voice exclaiming, "I forbid this from happening! You are allowing a _mercenary_ of all people control you!"

Andy, who at that point had the attention of all the room bar the fuming Udina, chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "And you were allowing the Illusive Man, of all people, control you, Gary. You don't mind if I call you Garry, do you Garry?" Ignoring the rapidly reddening face of the man in question he strode forwards with a friendly smile and shook the hands of Councillors Tyzuris and T'Nius before bowing lightly to Councillor Ilan, who smiled and bowed back. "It's a pleasure to finally meet all of you in per-"

"Guards! Arrest this man!"

Andy didn't even move to stop the approaching commandos, and continued speaking as they were blasted backwards and knocked unconscious against the walls with his biotics. "Person," Andy continued easily, "I had hoped that this idiot had been taken care of," he jabbed his finger at the shocked human representative, "and so I have brought a person I believe perfect for the job with me." A moment later Faith and Daniel walked into the room side-by-side, and Daniel gave Faith a small, reassuring smile and a push before leaning against the door. Andy took in their appearance and shook his head slightly with a disbelieving chuckle. He doubted anybody even knew the old games now, or series, but the two people in front of him had taken on the physical looks of their namesakes. Faith, he remembered, was from a game called Mirror's Edge; an Asian woman with short, feathery black hair and tattoo beneath her eye. The only difference between the two was the tattoo, which was absent on Faith's face. Daniel, on the other hand, had taken on the appearance of one of the Stargate characters.

"Hello," she greeted nervously after a moment, "my name is Faith Adams."

The councillors looked to Andrew for guidance, and he smiled before motioning for Faith to join him. She walked to his side and he smiled reassuringly at her before turning to address arguably the three most influential people in the galaxy. "She is the woman I suggest to take over Udina's position on the Council," he explained, ignoring the indignant spluttering from behind him. "She graduated Harvard Law School on Earth with the highest honours and a perfect score, with a minor in Ethics, and served on the London Police Force for five years before transferring to C-Sec and working there for five years as well. This gives her realistic experience, as well as the capability to look at the situation from a highly moral perspective. Her record is perfect. _She_ is perfect for this job."

Udina opened his mouth to protest, however Daniel was faster and slammed his elbow right into his face; knocking him quite promptly out. Andy stifled a grin when he heard the crunch of bone. The Council all looked to each other before nodding, and then turning back to him. T'Nius was the one that spoke their collective decision. "You have given us hope against a threat that has wiped this galaxy out time and time before us, and so far have not led us astray. You have the power to simply go ahead and do what you wish, and yet you give us the opportunity to be involved in the fight - intimately so. We cannot risk rifts between our races during this war, and it will be a war. Udina hindered our efforts at nearly every turn; just as the late Tevos and Valern did... it is time for him to be replaced. We will trust you in this matter, Andrew Kronos."

Over the next half an hour Faith looked almost out of her depth, despite the fact that she was one of the most advanced AIs in the Universe. The three Councillors sat her down and explained to her the duties that came as part of being one of them, among other important topics, until, following a very short initiation service witnessed by all those conscious in the room, she was inducted into the Council, and Udina was thrown out in disgrace. The man in question was escorted unconscious to the nearest escape pod with his entourage before being launched at the nearest vaguely habitable planet. They would arrive in one month, and _then_ a rescue signal would be sent out to Alliance Vessels.

Andy felt that justice had been served.

For the next four hours Andy was given the tour of the huge vessel they were on while the now-complete Council contacted the Human Alliance to join the fight against the Reapers. Questions, of course, were asked about the whereabouts of Gary Udina, however the Council simply replied that he had been deemed unfit for service after ten independent investigations and psychological evaluations and so had been replaced. He was just sitting down for lunch when a familiar presence teased at the edges of his awareness, and he turned around with a wide smile. Several seconds later Jack walked into the room looking just that little bit lighter and more alive, and she smiled broadly when she saw him waiting for her. Ignoring the fact that they were in the public eye she eagerly walked into his open arms and rested her head on his chest as he swayed softly. "It went fine," she answered his unasked question. "It was only recently they begun trying to recreate me... but he was pretty messed up. The medibots and Chakwas agreed that he'll make a full recovery though, even if it does take a couple of years."

He nodded into her hair and then let her go, smiling down at her with his hands resting on her shoulders. "Good... and I'm proud of you for doing this."

She blushed, but a small, pleased smile tweaked the corners of her lips. "What else was I supposed to do?"

He didn't answer, and instead sat her down before giving her his plate which he had yet to touch and walking back over to the counter to get another meal for himself. They ate in a comfortable silence, at least until Shepard and Liara joined them. "The Alliance-"

"Has agreed to fight against the Reapers and are cycling their fleets to be retrofitted over the next two weeks," Andy finished, and smiled at Shepard's depressed expression. "I know. Faith's been sending me updates."

"So what'd you do to that fuck Udina?"

"Nothing," Andy admitted, regret rampant in his tone as he turned to his girlfriend, "Daniel did that for me. Elbowed him right in the face. The weak pea-brain went down like a sack of bricks; dead to the world. We fired him off in an escape pod, and the rescue signal should activate in thirtyish days."

"...That's kinda tame, Fucker."

Andy held his hands up with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, he hasn't gone and killed anybody. He was just a corrupt little shit, and with some of the things Izzy and Ellie've done to his criminal record, as well as the incriminating evidence we've put in his systems, he won't be getting away scot-free when he gets rescued. He'll at the very least be disgraced publically."

Jack looked searchingly at him as if to look for any signs of weakness, but then gave a small nod before resuming eating. "I suppose that'll do until I can get my hands on him."

Andy didn't even bother trying to convince her not to do anything to the corrupt ex-Councillor. The four ate in relative peace, simply discussing matters of little importance, as well as Shepard informing Andy that Miranda would have control of the ship whilst he visited his mother that evening - both to warn her of the upcoming threat and also to say his possible goodbyes just in case everything turned bad. Andy would've liked to say the same to his family, but such a thing was impossible.

They eventually parted ways; Andy and Jack to head to their quarters to discuss their plans, and Shepard and Liara to board one of their drop ships to visit Hannah Shepard. Thirty minutes after lunch Jack and Andy sat down in their quarters - the latter handing his lover a glass of iced tea; something she had become rather fond of after he had introduced her to it.

He kept the thought that bastardising it with five spoons of sugar was sacrilegious to himself.

"So how was your boy really?" Andy asked after a moment, and Jack looked at him in surprise before shaking her head with a small smile.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Andy leant forwards and rested his hand on her knee as he shook his head. "We're partners Jack, and I know you better than anybody in the universe - so the answer is no, you can't hide anything from me. The fact that I have unleashed biotics doesn't help in hiding secrets either."

Chuckling humourlessly she nodded before sinking into a small silence. "He was pretty bad," she admitted after a moment. "Never anything as bad as... well, you know... but pretty bad. He'd been through conditioning to enjoy violence, his biotics were powerful for a human, and I could feel hugely enlarged Eezo reserves in his body. No way in hell they were natural. Only way we could get him out of there was to knock him out, and we'll keep him out until he can be transferred to a secure facility that has the capabilities to hold him so he can be treated." Andy watched her pause mid-sip, and then let her cup drop to rest on her knee before looking down at the slightly rippling surface. "I only wish somebody had gotten me when I was only that fucked up." She looked to him after a moment and sent him a small, sad smile. "I only wish I'd met you earlier."

His concerned look softened and he reached over to rest his hand over hers with a small smile. "I wish I'd met you earlier too, Jack. I wish I'd been here and been able to break you out of your pain before..." he trailed off, but both of them knew to what he was referring. "But I couldn't have." She looked to him curiously, and he gave a small smile outside the window; his eyes focussed on the stars. "So much of me, almost all of me, hates what happened to you." Her eyes hardened, and he felt her hand tense beneath his own, but she didn't push him away. It was a testament to how she had changed that she hadn't jumped to conclusions. "It's so selfish, and I feel horrible for it... but I keep on thinking that if that shit hadn't happened to you then we wouldn't have met." Her hand relaxed. "I keep thinking that if you hadn't been through such a horrible existence then you wouldn't be the woman I've fallen in love with. In a way I hold Cerberus in high regard - because not only did they bring me here, but they gave me you. Despite the fact they tortured you, forced horrible experiments on you, tore my family away from me and turned me into an experiment... they also gave me the chance to fall in love."

He turned his eyes to hers, and found himself transfixed; unable to look away from her warm chocolate orbs. "And I fell harder than I ever thought humanly possible. I didn't think it was possible to feel the way I do about you, and I wonder if it is... because we're not really human anymore. Our biotics are permanently in sync - I know you've felt it too. It should be impossible for something like dark energy to work with a secondary source, but we do. My biotics are in complete harmony with yours, and vice versa. It gives us something deeper than I've ever read about, or have heard about." He gave a small, single happy chuckle. "It's like Shep said; we share something more intimate than sex without even thinking about it. I wouldn't trade what we have for anything."

Jack looked shocked before giving a small smile, though the hate was still present in her voice when she spoke. "I- I never thought about it like that. I suppose that if _Cerberus_ had never fucked me up then I might just be an ordinary twenty-something walking around with friends, going to the movies on the weekends, worrying about looks..." She looked at him for several seconds before moving with a speed that no human could follow, and landed straddling his lap and cupping his face in her hands; her eyes boring into his as she shook her head. "But... you're right. I'm thankful that I got the chance to fall in love with you because of what they did. I hold no remorse they are gone, but I am thankful for what they did in some capacity." She leant forwards and captured his lips in a tender kiss, lingering just long enough to convey the depth of emotion she was feeling before pulling away and resting her forehead on his; her eyes unblinking. "I love you, Andrew White - more than anything and everything. I always will." A smile slowly grew on his face before he pulled her into an almost crushing hug, and though confused she still returned it with a smile from the crook of his neck. "What was that for?"

"For loving me," he murmured by her air; his voice soft, "for letting me in."

She felt his arm move slightly from where it rested around her upper back, and then a small hiss sound before the quiet, almost imperceptible slap of an impact. She frowned and pulled back, and tried to look behind her but found herself stopped by Andy's other arm bringing her attention back to his face. She almost gasped at the life and emotion flowing through his eyes - the whirlwind of feeling manifesting itself as a literal glow burning in his sapphire orbs. "You know, when I met you you were nothing like I thought you'd be, despite the fact I 'knew' you in the game. It did you no justice as a person, at all. You were, still are, so complex that meeting you was almost overwhelming - but the way you acted was completely different from the game as well. I remember you thanked me for getting you off Purgatory." He saw her give a small smile at the memory. "In the game there was no way in hell you'd have done something like that with Shepard. Hell, you never even called him by his first name even when in a paragon relationship... but then you started calling me Andrew, and Andy. I knew then that there was something special between us."

He readjusted her easily on his lap, still keeping his left arm behind her back, so that she was resting almost like a princess in his arms. She blushed at their position, but didn't make any move to change it. Andy gave her a small, loving smile as he looked down at their bodies. "Something like this? I thought it would be almost impossible. Snuggling is one thing, but this? This is one of the dreams little girls have; being held by their Prince Charming - not that I'm being arrogant or anything," he got a grin for that comment, "like she is the most important thing in his life. Like he would do anything for her. Like he would die, kill, live... do anything for her." He waved his free hand at how she was laid across his lap, and she followed his motion. "That's what this means, Jack. I don't hold you like this just because it's comfortable." He saw dawning realization in her eyes, slowly but surely, and continued. "I know how much your demons mean to you. To let me know them was one thing... to let me know your dreams was entirely another. Demons can hurt you, but you can hold them off with dreams.

"If you let me into your dreams... and if I shattered them, then you would die. I could ruin you, completely." He watched her staring into his chest, her expression unreadable, and smiled to himself before murmuring, "The Bridal Carry." She jolted in his arms, and he smiled knowingly to himself as she stared up at him with shock and an almost desperate fear. "It was a guess," he admitted after a second's looking deep into her eyes, "but I could feel your complete elation when I moved you to being like this, and when I carried you back from the Illusive Man's base. I wondered... if you were so happy, so blissful at being simply carried in such a way... what would you feel like, what would you do, what could you _be_ if you knew that it didn't just mean all those things, but if your dream of all dreams was actually coming true? What would you become knowing that I knew your deepest wants and granted you them? What would you do if I did this?" He slowly withdrew his hand from her back, and her wide eyes dropped from his eyes to his hand when it finally cleared her side. Her reaction to seeing the small, black velvet box in his hand was to slap her hands over her mouth and stare at it as if it was the devil and god at the same time. "What would you do, Jack, if I asked you to marry me?"

She shook her head as the tears streamed down her face, and she leaned away from the box. "You can't know," she whispered with unveiled desperation, "you can't know about that."

"I didn't until I begun this conversation," he told her softly. "But I guessed. Just like with the tellytubbies, one of your lesser dreams of having a childhood... but this one..." He stared at her, trying to get her attention, but she never broke fearful eye contact with the box in his hand. "This one is your deepest. This one, if broken, will lead you to death." He saw her fear turn even deeper, and he reached forwards and lifted the lid to the box. He saw her face fall and her mind begin shattering when she saw the empty cushion inside, but then shook his head with a small smile as he lifted her hope-broken face to look at him. "The difference between what you think is happening, and what is happening, Jack, is that I'm not asking you to marry me. I already have." The deterioration in her eyes halted for a moment, and her brow furrowed in confusion - at least until he lifted her limp hand from her lap and lifted it up so that it broke their eye contact.

And brought the ring on her left ring finger into her line of sight.

He lowered it after a moment so that he could see her expression, and he saw her wide eyes follow her hand as it made its slow decent. He watched as she, with infinite carefulness, touched the pure white band as if it would disappear before her very eyes, and then jerk her fingers back as if burned when she felt the hardness of the pure blue gem that rested in the center of it. "The difference to what you thought, Jack, is that you've already told me yes." Her eyes slowly made their way to his, and he shook his head with a small smile. "This," he motioned to the ring, "us," he motioned to the position of their bodies, "isn't one of your dreams, because this is real. This is not going to disappear. I am not going to leave. You are not going to leave. There is nothing you would do that would make me leave you. _Ever_. Not only would I kill for you, die for you, and live for you - I'd live _with_ you. I _will_ live with you. Forever. I'm not leaving, _ever_. Just say the word Jack, just the one word that would make me the happiest man in the Universe. Just _say_ yes."

For several seconds she looked even more broken than she had when she thought he had shattered her dream, but it wasn't the dream that was broken anymore.

It was the barrier of distrust she had built around her deepest sanctuaries.

"Yes," came a tiny whisper as she looked down at her left hand and the ring that was gleaming there. For several seconds she was silent, until her head jerked upwards and she revealed her face to him. Tears were streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks, but the eyes they were streaming from told him everything. They were free; completely devoid of any hesitation; filled with life. They were beautiful.

They were saying one word to him.

"Yes," she repeated as she slammed into the crook of his neck as she cried and squeezed him with every ounce of strength she had in her body. "Yes! Oh my God Yes!" she sobbed into his shoulder, and he gently wrapped his arms around her with the widest smile he had ever had in his entire life curving his lips as he cradled her body protectively. "This isn't a dream," he heard her whisper disbelievingly to herself, and he smiled as he shook his head.

"No," he murmured gently into her hair, "this is not a dream anymore. This is us."

* * *

Andrew White awoke slowly.

As his consciousness slowly swum into awareness he considered the interesting order his senses came into readiness. First touch, then hearing, followed sluggishly by smell, and then finally sight - if one was to open their eyes. Andrew White didn't need to. He could feel the perfect, soft contours pressed against the length of his body; could hear the almost inaudible snores from his lover; could smell the sweat on hers and his bodies. He gave a small shiver as a deep, unconscious sigh tickled the skin on his chest, and smiled like a man who had never before seen and had just gained the gift of sight.

He was blind, and now he saw.

The body against his shuffled slightly, and he felt smooth legs tangled with his own as a slow, drawn out hum of contentment vibrated through his lover before she fell still once more. That had never happened before. Every time he was awake when she stirred in any capacity he felt her wake up, at least enough to check their position and to confirm he was keeping his promise of doing nothing 'funny'. Now however, she had stirred and stayed asleep. Her subconscious had completely accepted him, and that small action made him feel like all was right in the universe. He carefully moved his hand around until he found her left hand resting against his collarbone, and then started fingering the ring that adorned her finger with a beaming smile on his face. He was now engaged to be married to the love of his life.

After finally consummating their love the night before Jack had lain down next to him looking as if she could finally see him clearly, for the very first time since she had met him. Her disbelieving questions of, "This is real?" and, "You really mean it?" had continued until he had made sweet, tender love to her once more. She had cried she was so happy.

"Was I dreaming I'm engaged to be married to the man of my dreams?"

He turned his head to the side and finally opened his eyes, bringing Jack's into sharp focus right in front of his own. He smiled and touched the ring again, delighting in watching her eyes follow the touch and light up with pure, innocent happiness upon seeing the white gold band encircling her finger. "No. No dream."

She stared at him fiddling with the ring for almost twenty minutes before speaking once more. "Did you do this because the Reapers are coming? Is that why you proposed now?"

He twirled the ring one last time before looking up to meet her eyes, and then shrugged. "Yes and no. If you're asking if I rushed this, then no. I'm very ready to have you as my wife," he watched her eyes light up at the word, "but it may have sped up my asking - it's hard to tell. All I know is that it felt right last night and it feels right now."

She leant up and pressed a lazy kiss to his lips, languidly long and tender, before shuffling so that her head was on his shoulder and she was draped over his torso. The smile on her lips looked as if it could never be wiped off. It was an indescribable feeling for Andy to see her so relaxed and happy. That feeling was nothing compared to what Jack was experiencing. She had _never_ trusted anybody as much as she trusted Andrew at that moment. She doubted it was possible to trust anybody more. "I love you."

He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head; the white hair tickling at his chin and nose. "I love you too."

They didn't rush that morning; there was no feeling of need to do so. There were no missions to be done; the fleets were getting outfitted and stationed at strategic strongholds; and on the Normandy it was Sunday which, despite Shepard not being religious, was a day on which the crew did only the base tasks they needed to. According to Shepard it was just as good a day as any to have a break on. After nearly three hours Andy felt a low vibration against him and felt Jack's face heat up. He gave a laugh and carefully extracted himself from her embrace; all the while chuckling at the blush she was sporting. "Hungry from last night love?"

She slid out of bed herself, her gaze running with slight lust over his body, and then finally met his eyes with a raised eyebrow. "How could I not be?"

Likewise Andy was staring at her own lithe form, though answered as his eyes tracked appreciatively over her small but pert breasts. "I would have to agree there, love." She was about to pull on her panties when he caught her arm, and looked down with a small, confused smile to where he was kneeling. "I always found it odd," he murmured as he took the piece of fabric from her fingers, "that when people make love or have sex they take off each other's clothes... but afterwards they don't help them put them back on." He held them out and she gently stepped into them; blushing and smiling as he slid them up her legs to rest against her crotch. He met her eyes with a small smile, and it turned crooked when he stood and held out her bra. "This, however much I would like to help you into it, poses a problem."

She held out her arms with a small, throaty chuckle. "I'll show you how to do it." After burning the instructions for how to put on a bra in his mind they both stepped into the small metallic puddles on the floor, and seconds later they were fully dressed in their 'lounging' wear. It was perhaps one of the only times Jack wore pink; her flannelette pyjama pants a light rose colour. Andy gave her a raised eyebrow when he saw her black t-shit proudly proclaiming 'TAKEN' over her breasts in white lettering. Her ensemble was completed with a pair of black slippers with 'Part A' on the tip of each. She pointed to the top, "Self-explanatory I thought."

He grinned and nodded happily. "I figured that, but what's Part B?"

"Anybody's ass that pisses me off," she quipped back as she walked over to the mini-kitchen, and he grinned as he cycled through a few of his own presets before settling on an almost identical attire to his fiancé - only with his pants in dark blue. Their breakfast that morning felt completely different to the one the day before, and Jack turned to Andy with confusion written all over her face. He finished his mouthful and smiled at her, reaching over and taking her hand to bring attention to the ring that rested there. "This is the first day of the rest of our lives. Until we die you and I are going to be eating breakfast together - give or take a few days."

Her eyes lit up and then softened with joy as she looked down at their joined hands, and she intertwined their fingers before continuing to eat her cereal. Andy had no problem eating with one hand if he got to see that smile on her face. Finally they decided to go walk-about to see what the crew was up to, and to see how long it took for people to realize the difference between them, and exited side-by-side with their hands brushing together every few steps. "Jack! Andy!"

The two turned to see Miranda approaching them at a brisk walk, and Andy sent her a small smile. "Ah, my favourite XO, what can we do for you?"

She came to a stop in front of them looking ruffled, and they both cocked their heads to the side in confusion. The forthcoming, "Tali and Legion are having an argument," made everything crystal clear however, and upon seeing the looks on both the biotics' faces she turned on her heel and led the way. They travelled quickly down to the engineering deck and Miranda made a beeline right for the engine core where Tali's very angry voice was making an appearance, and a synthetic reply was chipping in on occasion.

"What the fuck's going on here?" yelled Jack, and both of the arguers hushed immediately - jumping, if at all possible for Legion, from the shock of the sudden outburst. Seeing that she had their attention, Jack glowered at the pair, and even Legion took a step back. "We're gonna get this sorted fucking _pronto_! What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?"

Legion was the first to recover. Not having much emotional range could have had something to do with it. "We discovered data on Creator Tali'Zorah's Omni-tool that was imperative to the Geth infrastructure."

Andy clapped his palm to his forehead and let out a sigh - he'd forgotten about this. "Tali?"

"I walked to my work station after breakfast and I found this _Geth_ hacking away at my omni-tool! It didn't ask; it just tried to steal what it wanted!"

"So let me get this straight. Legion, you took Tali's omni-tool without permission, cracked through her protection algorithms, and then attempted to data-mine and transmit your findings to the rest of your kind. Am I correct?"

There was a small silence, and then a synthetic, but slightly timid, "You are not incorrect in your evaluation."

Andy stared at the optics of the Geth for a moment before turning to Tali with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize that your data was completely safe, right? Ellie and Izzy check all communications before they leave the safety net of the Normandy, and they would have undoubtedly seen it suspicious that sensitive data was being sent to someone other than the Migrant Fleet from your omni-tool."

Her lips twisted slightly, and a frown marred her brow. "That may be," she admitted after a moment, "but it is the principal. Legion tried to steal from me."

Andy had to agree, and turned to the Geth whose flanges on the side of its head were flaring nervously. "Legion, your actions could have spurred a war between the Quarian people and your race. Right now the last possible thing we need is conflict between races - as it will detract from the unity needed to fight the Reapers. The data you may have found on there was likely out-dated plans against the Geth. The Quarian people, while still holding a fair amount of animosity towards the Geth, now have something to calm their anger. Not only do they now have a planet to call their own, but their immune systems have been fixed on a genetic level. The planet they now inhabit, Virmire, is to any species more beautiful than Rannoch. It is not as arid, and it is has a far more welcoming environment." He could see Tali wondering where he was going with his speech, and so concluded, "And you are willing to ruin their new lives because you found some out-dated plans?"

Tali looked surprised for a moment before turning to Legion, and the Geth silently deliberated what Andy had said for several seconds before letting its omni-tool drop and disappear from its arm. "Kronos Andy is correct." He turned to Tali. "We apologise for the conflict; some of our platforms had not been synchronised with the data on the Quarian people's new circumstances."

Tali stared critically at the Geth before giving a small nod, but unlike the game made no move to offer any compromise. Andy frowned and wondered at why that had happened, but shrugged it off as Tali and Legion broke eye-contact and went back to what they had been doing beforehand. He looked to Jack who rolled her eyes and gave a small chuckle before wrapping his arm around her waist and walking slowly back towards the elevator. They smiled when they saw Miranda holding it for them, and joined her in the journey back to the Crew Deck. "You two're up late," the black-haired Australian commented after a couple of seconds and the two biotics shared a small, knowing smile.

"Late night," Jack quipped back easily, "I finally saw the light and understood I'd been doing something wrong."

Miranda looked at her oddly, not understanding the cryptic answer, but before she could pry further the two lovers bade her goodbye and stepped back onto the crew deck before quickly joining the queue for lunch. The sat down at the table containing Shepard, Liara, Gabrielle, and Kenneth, and were met by welcoming smiles and greetings. They chatted idly about how things were coming along with various projects, but overall enjoyed the comfortable comradery they all shared - only moving at one point to make room for Miranda and Joker. Jack flicked Andy an amused expression, and he hid his return smile by taking a sip of water from his cup. Shepard had decided to take a drink at the same time, and was idly looking around as he lifted the rim to his lips. Mid-mouthful, however, he caught sight of something that rendered Joker, who was sitting opposite, covered in a fine spray of water that Shepard had spat out in shock. All conversation stopped at the spectacle, as it wasn't often, if ever, that they had ever seen John Shepard make such a spectacle.

John Shepard couldn't have cared much less at that moment - too busy staring at the stunning white-gold band that encircled Jack's left ring finger; the sapphire in the middle of it glinting back at him. His eyes tore away from it to look at the heavily amused and blissfully happy couple with a slack jaw, until a slow smile started spreading over his lips. The moment it begun it sped up until it was covering his entire face, and he dove over the table to tackle the two to the floor with a yell. The two biotics easily softened their landing and prevented the momentum from injuring them, but grinned over Shepard's shoulders at each other as the normally-stoic man hugged them. He pulled back after a moment, taking a second to look at the two's beaming faces filled with an unbreakable happiness. "Congratulations," he muttered, his grin not diminishing in the slightest as the engaged couple helped him to his feet. "You two deserve this."

There was another gasp from somebody else as they caught sight of the object of attention, and then a wave of exclamations burst out as those few pointed it out to their neighbours. Before anybody else could comment however, Izzy came running into the mess with Ellie hot on her heels; her face grave despite the fact that she could easily see what all the congratulation and shock was about. Andy only needed a fraction of a second to gather what their expressions meant and gave a small nod to signal that he understood. He received a nod back before they ran from the room, and he turned to Shepard and Jack, both of whom looked confused at his sudden change in mood. The rest of the crew soon followed when they noticed his complete lack of merriness, and Andy looked around before giving a nod to himself. "As much as I would have loved to announce that Jack and I are now engaged," wide smiles met his announcement, though tinged with confusion, "it cannot be." He pointed out the window on the far wall with his eyes darkening with power.

"The Reapers are here."


	15. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: Only a couple more chapters to go! This chapter is relatively short, because I'm simply pants at writing combat scenes. Anyways, I hope you like it. Jack and Andy _are_ ridiculously powered, as you would have noticed if you've read this far - and that feature will be highlighted quite noticeably in this chapter.**

* * *

Andy and Jack strode towards the Cargo Bay with grim determination on their faces, though everybody that passed couldn't fail to notice their intertwined fingers of life in their eyes. The Reapers had finally come, but both of the biotics now shared a bond and promise that transcended that. Jack looked across at Andy and sent him a small smile, and he returned it warmly before punching the button for the elevator. "Which front are we taking?"

"Earth," he replied without hesitation, "mostly because it's important as hell. The majority of the human population live there, and considering they know that you and I have destroyed at least one of their number they will be looking for revenge."

"Are we taking anybody?"

"Jacob and Morinth I believe. Liara, Shepard, Legion, Samara, Miranda, and Mordin will be stationed on Illium; and Garrus, Kar, Tali, and Grunt will be taking Freedom's Progress."

Jack nodded her head in understanding and walked out with her love onto the Cargo Deck. The Normandy crew was swarming around doing their duties, while the combat team were all stood around three drop ships looking anxious. The pair quickly made their way towards the group and received drawn greetings as their morphic armour interfaced to their nervous and sensory systems and ran checks. "No speeches," Andy interrupted when Shepard made to step forwards. "Everybody here knows what's on the line, what they have to do, and we'll be alright."

Shepard looked around and got determined nods in return, and he gave a small sigh before sending Andy a wry smile. "Well then, now that I've been relegated to the 'no inspirational speeches' bucket, good luck - stay safe, all of you. No heroics here. If you're facing certain death back down; it's better to fight another day than to give it all up because you feel like a pussy for backing down."

Andy nodded his agreement and quickly joined the others in shaking hands, exchanging hugs, and saying their 'good lucks'. Within mere minutes Liara, Shepard, Legion, Samara, and Miranda were flying out of the cargo bay in one of the Normandy's drop ships and John seemed to slump slightly before sending them all smiles. "Now that Andy isn't looking over my back I can make my speech." Liara stifled a chuckle, and both Miranda and Samara were sending their Commander small smirks of amusement. "We've come a hell of a long way since we came together on this mission, even with you Legion, and it's too damn late to back down now. When we hit Illium we're going to go in hard, and without any mercy. I talked to Andy on the way down to the Cargo Bay and he told me that the morphic armour we're wearing - Legion excluded - has just been upgraded with a new feature.

"It provides a direct feed of a synthetic stimulant into our bloodstreams, and although we'll crash badly afterwards we should be able to power through this mission without any breaks." Getting nods in return he opened up a program on his Omni-tool and quickly analysed the battle schematics provided by Daniel and Faith; created mere milliseconds after the warning came in. It was changing before their very eyes as it updated with real-time data, and Shepard pointed out the swarm of blue dots over the simulated Illium. "Asari and Turian dreadnaughts are providing support from above the atmosphere, and they're sending fighters down for close air support. They're doing their best, but even with the new tech Reapers have gotten through their protective net and infiltrated the planet. Casualties are already estimated at three million, and that's an hour after the first one arrived."

John saw a look of horror pass over his lifemate's face and drew her to his side before gently kissing her temple. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, ignoring the fact that they were en route to a potentially lethal mission and in front of company. Miranda seemed to understand if the compassionate look on her face was anything to go by, and Legion simply didn't comprehend why Liara was seeking such physical closeness. Samara looked almost wistful. Shepard pointed to another swarm on the main city - also coloured blue and interspersed around the red dots that were the Reapers. "Alliance forces as well as several Turian and Asari battalions are groundside, and the only reason Alliance ships aren't in orbit is because their forces are centred on Earth... which is also being attacked right now. Andy is leading a squad there, so I have no doubt that Earth is in good hands." He spread his fingers over the hologram and it zoomed in to give a more defined look at how the allied forces were spread. "We'll drop in here," he pointed to behind a building in front of which a Reaper was stationed, "and then come around the front and assist." He tapped one of the blue dots and second later a live video feed appeared; sounds of guns, screams, and loud thumps flooding the small area they were in.

"My god," murmured Miranda with a disgusted look on her face as she saw one of the mutated abominations get incinerated by a stray round, "what the hell are those things?"

John likewise was looking at the swarms of disfigured and gruesome creatures, and shook his head with a scowl on his lips. "I don't know, and I don't care. They're going down with the rest of the murdering little fuckers."

Liara looked up in surprise, not ever having heard Shepard swear before, and blanched when she saw a look of intense hate and fury on his face as he stared at the screen. It was nowhere near as violent as what she had seen with Jack and Andy on the Cerberus base, but it was enough to scare her. It took a couple of seconds for John to realize that the woman holding onto him had stiffened, and he broke his gaze away from the live feed - blanching himself when he saw the raw worry in his lover's eyes. He sighed after a moment when he realised what the problem was, and leaned down to kiss the crown of her head. "Sorry," he murmured, "just... seeing that makes me so angry. The Reapers are nothing but a disgusting, immoral, murdering race of bastards that need to be erased as they have done to others."

Liara nodded slightly before pulling away and twitching her fingers in a pre-programmed motion, and the armour entered its full battle mode; bulking up slightly and slowly fading out of the visible spectrum until all that was left was an empty seat. Shepard followed a second later along with Miranda, Samara, and Legion, and within mere moments they found themselves all looking at each other again; their suits encoded with the encryption algorithms rendering them invisible. Everybody quickly ran through their start up tests, and stood when their pilot Sophie's, voice came over their communications informing them that they were about to land.

Their trip to Illium had taken so little time due to the wormhole travel that five minutes after stepping foot into the shuttle they were blasting through the atmosphere. The ground rapidly approached, and with control that perhaps only Joker could match the drop ship came to a standstill mere centimetres above the surface of the planet. Shepard twitched three off his fingers in quick succession, and a second later had his assault rifle pressed hard into his shoulder as he stepped out of the small cabin and into the warzone beyond. Liara stepped quickly out from behind him and squeezed her trigger twice; both shots blasting the heads right off two Scions and dropping them.

Liara heard the camouflaged drop ship hiss away as it left, but was too focussed on the war before her very eyes to turn and see just how visible it was. She heard Shepard's rifle click quietly beside her as he took out more hostiles, and the same from Miranda, Samara, and Legion behind her, but once again only focussed on her range of sight. She trusted Shepard to cover her side, and the two teammates behind her to cover her back. Less than a minute later they came into the main arena of battle around the Reaper, and attention from the allied forces was quickly on them; their invisible forms outlined in purple on their HUDs, identifying them as commanding officers.

None of the four even paused to give their comrades the slightest bit of attention; their entire beings focussed on decimating the forces that surrounded them, as well as the huge Reaper above. A huge, blinding beam of light suddenly burst through the cloud cover and hit one of the legs of the huge machine - atomizing it into nothingness and causing it to loose balance. Everybody saves the Normandy crew watched with wide eyes as the Reaper tried to readjust its other legs to try and regain some semblance of stability, but its huge bulk and the gravity affecting it soon dictated its destiny.

Unfortunately its destiny coincided directly with theirs: on a collision course. The four immediately joined the throng of marines and allies in sprinting full-tilt away from the rapidly falling machine, but could easily see that they didn't have enough time. The shadow fell across the entire park where they had been fighting and Shepard grabbed onto Liara and curled protectively over her despite the futility of the action - he knew full well that his body wasn't able to withstand such a crushing impact.

He faintly heard a beep over the crunching and groaning of metal and yells around him, but put it off to somebody's weapon emitting an alert - or his armour.

That thought was quickly discarded when a huge, rumbling roar of an explosion tore through the entire block, and everybody's heads snapped towards the sound before quickly shielding their eyes and cringing as an earth-shuddering thump juddered underneath them. When they next looked the entire area was covered in a huge cloud of dust, and nobody knew just what was going to emerge from it. Shepard slowly unfolded himself from over Liara and looked around, catching sight of Miranda and Legion tentatively walking to join them among other soldiers and Miranda coming out from behind cover nearby; all outlined in glows that allowed people to know where allies were in the near-blinding dust.

"Commander." Shepard looked down to his arm in shock, and his eyes widened when he saw the smiling face of an attractive blonde with blue eyes; one of their pilot AIs- the one that had dropped them off. "The explosion was caused by me," she informed him with a sheepish grin, "when I saw the Reaper coming down I knew you wouldn't make it in time, and I knew that if I detonated the jump-core inside my ship I'd be able to redirect its decent so it would miss you. I've sent a requisition order back to Ellie on the Normandy to build another drop ship that I can pilot with the nanobots we prepared for situations like this." She paused for a second and then grinned, "Ah, it's ready. I'll see you back on the battlefield, or the Normandy... one or the other. Sophie out."

Her face winked out of existence and Shepard blinked before placing his finger to his ear and tapping twice to patch himself into the comms of all nearby allied forces. "That explosion was a kamikaze by one of our AIs to divert the fall of the Reaper. She's okay and is piloting another ship as we speak, but... well there's your proof people; treat AIs like people and they'll save your life just like your team."

Murmurs of agreement and surprise came into his ear a moment later, and then a slew of 'thank yous' to Sophie, whom Shepard had no doubt was grinning her head off at that moment as she listened in. Shepard and the rest of his team moved forwards and around the fallen Reaper with an efficiency that many soldiers could only stare in wonder at; not even pausing or hesitating for a moment as they passed into enemy lines and bunkers that they decimated with brutal skill. They advanced onto other enemy grounds with nary a single break; fighting the Reapers until one of the ships in orbit was sufficiently charged to send down one of their Lancer attacks to decimate the sentient machines before clearing the area and then moving onto the next battleground.

It was completely fluid, and even Shepard had to stop a moment after their seventeenth Reaper to marvel at the way they all worked together seamlessly. After their twenty fifth Reaper however, the accelerants and steroids being pumped into their bodies begun to take its toll, and Legion was reporting low energy levels as well. After their thirtieth they were running on fumes. There were still several outbreak areas however, where the Reapers had been defeated but where the creatures they contained hadn't, and so the team of four wearily travelled to the zones via Sophie's drop ship to save energy. Finally, nearly twenty hours after their first battle the four collapsed down behind a barricade made by the contingent of mixed Marines, STG, and Asari Commando squads who were also hunkered down with them, occasionally popping over and around the concrete to knock off more of their enemies. "I'm fuckin' shagged," breathed Miranda, and Liara cracked a wry smile while John let out a tired laugh.

Legion and Samara just looked confused. "We do not see how or when you engaged in sexual intercou-"

"It's a human expression, Legion," interrupted the irritated Miranda, and Legion's flanges flickered a couple of times before he nodded.

"Added to data banks."

John rolled his eyes and popped over the cover before expertly executing twenty headshots in quick succession before the abominations even realized where the shots were coming from and centred their fire on him. He peered down at him Omni-tool, glowing pale green in the darkness, and quickly scrolled through the request calls that were coming in. "There aren't any more Reapers inbound, and only two more are left on the surface. Two Lancer Class ships are coming in and will destroy them in the next five minutes. The rest of the battles are much like this one; tedious, but not as dangerous and destructive as the Reapers themselves. Medi-vac operations are running smoothly, and transfer of forces from completed battles to ones in progress is being assigned by Faith and Daniel. This'll be the last fight for us today."

All three of his companions let out breaths of relief and the atmosphere lightened considerably.

For the next ten minutes they helped the allies they were with clear the area, and exchanged 'good luck's and 'thank you's before they headed towards their waiting drop ship, almost dead on their feet. Sophie allowed them to doze on the way back to the Normandy which was waiting in orbit after destroying the last Reaper, and regretfully had to ask them to wake up and leave as she still had duties to perform on the surface of the planet. Joker met Miranda the second she came off the transport and gave her a hard kiss before embracing her looking more emotional than anybody had ever seen him, and Shepard and Liara followed the pair tiredly to the elevator where they punched their appropriate floors. Miranda bade the two a quiet goodnight before leaving to her quarters that she now shared with Joker, and Shepard gently helped Liara stay standing as he guided her through their room and into the bathroom.

Their armour quickly slid to the floor in liquid form and slithered back into the bedroom to await them for the next day, and Shepard quickly got her out of her underwear as well as himself before pulling her into the shower and punching the decontamination button. A wonderfully hot spray burst from the shower head and cascaded over their bodies, and both could feel the waves of cold and slight sting as the nanobots within the water entered their pores and cleaned them. Thirty seconds after it had begun the shower stopped and the water pebbling on their skin evaporated as the last nanobots atomized themselves to provide the necessary heat. John, with half-lidded eyes, helped Liara to the bed where she collapsed and let out a deep sigh of relief. She frowned and gave a mumble when she saw Shepard pull up the final results of the Illium attack, and her eyes saddened when she saw his face become even more drawn. "So many," he murmured as he stared at the death count with pain in his eyes, and Liara forced herself to reach up and rest her hand on his arm.

He looked down at her and she shook her head; tired blue eyes staring back at him. "Not your fault," she slurred tiredly, "did all we could. Come to bed."

He stared at the figure one last time before exiting the terminal and lying down, and wrapped his arms protectively around the love of his life, thankful above all else that, unlike so many today, he had his reason for living to come back to and hold onto.

* * *

Jacob had been a soldier for the Alliance for years before being asked to take on the responsibility of being a Corsair; the Alliance's black-ops division that performed wet-work that was illegal. He'd seen battle upon battle; the worst of the worst; the vilest of vile. He'd worked alongside the most talented soldiers in the entire Universe, and fought some of them as well, and yet looking across at Jack and Andy he was infinitely thankful that he hadn't ever had to face either of them.

Because the pair was busy playing I-Spy.

"Okay, I spy with my little eye something beginning with..." Jack peered around for a while before grinning and looking back to Andy triumphantly. "W."

Jacob watched with completely unveiled disbelief as Andy simply rolled his eyes with a grin and lifted up her left hand. "Wedding band," he smirked at her small scowl that was having trouble not morphing into a giddy look of happiness. "I had a feeling you'd pick the most obvious thing." As she pouted further Andy looked over to Jacob and Morinth with a small, reassuring smile. "We'll be fine out there," he said firmly, no room for doubt. "Since we're facing the Destroyers, and they're smaller than the big fuckers, Jack and I can offer assistance at any time. If you're pinned, or if you need a few seconds to catch your breath, just call us no matter what. Don't let embarrassment or a sense of 'they're busy' get you hurt."

Jacob smiled and gave a thankful nod to his superior; recently promoted to vice-Commander unofficially by Shepard. He saw Morinth do the same, and it was at that moment they came out of the wormhole and arrived just short of Earth's atmosphere. Everybody peered out the window, and Jacob felt a shiver run down his spine when the temperature in the cabin lowered by several degrees. When he looked up at Andy and Jack he saw the reason for the sudden change; waves of pure black energy rippled off their skin in swarms, and he couldn't blame them. Earth was alight with destruction, cities on the night side clearly burning, and those on the day side covered with a layer of smoke that distorted the details of the countries.

"Put us down in London," Andy growled coldly, and the AI pilot didn't comment, simply angling the ship towards the specified destination. As it got closer and closer the scope of the destruction became clearer through the smoke, and Jack let out a muttered curse of anger before watching Andy bring up his Omni-tool and quickly access the real-time battle map. After he'd located a cluster of red he sent the co-ordinates off to the pilot and then turned to Morinth and Jacob with ice-cold eyes. Jacob had to force himself not to shiver. "What you see down there _will_ scar you for life," he warned lowly, "because even with all the new technology... the innocents have suffered. You'll see children mutilated in the streets; victims of the enemy... but unless there are confirmed signs of life I must ask you to move on - respect the dead by making sure that few more join them." He looked to Morinth especially as he spoke next. "Jack and I are not treating this as a game anymore. This time we will not be holding back, and many of the powers we will use will shock you, and likely frighten you in cases. We only ask that you obey orders and think of the innocents we're saving by acting so ruthlessly."

Jacob felt a shiver run through him at the look in his two friends' eyes. He'd seen the same look in the eyes of Corsair and N7 burn-outs; men and women that had seen far, far too much death in their lives. To those that couldn't recognize the look, civilians mostly, seeing such expressions and emotions usually made them escape in haste, but Jacob was a soldier. The looks in their eyes showed complete iciness; an iciness that only people who had killed hundreds of people could project. He found it almost impossible that the two people in front of him had been joking around mere minutes earlier - every other person he knew who had the same look as they did seemed stuck in a perpetual state of detachment and wariness.

That, and within two years of leaving the service at most they committed suicide or went on a mass killing spree.

The ship came to an abrupt halt and Andy stood up as the side door slid open to reveal the smoke-ridden battleground beyond. They stepped out into the sounds of warfare, and both Jacob and Morinth consciously stayed behind the two biotics, who didn't even look back as their shuttle departed. Glass crunched and squelched as they strode forwards; the ground covered with puddles of blood, and within a minute the four emerged into the square within which two Reaper Destroyers were relentlessly attacking the troops dug in. Jacob and Morinth had thought they had seen power before, but they hadn't been able to comprehend it until now.

With a mere wave of the pair's hands both Reapers collapsed in on themselves; sparking with dark red energy as they fell to the ground defeated. All noise ceased in the immediate area as the troops all stared in shock, at least until the first cheer rose up from a nearby Turian. It quickly gained momentum, at least until Andy sparked dangerously and a wave of cold rolled over everybody. "There are innocents still being murdered whilst you celebrate," he growled, but his voice carried to everybody listening, which was _everybody_. "Now is not the time to lose focus. Once this planet has been cleansed of the Reapers then you can cheer, and laugh, and congratulate yourselves... but for now, move the fuck out and kick some ass."

And with that he closed his eyes, searched for the tainted presences of Reapers around them, and then slashed his hand downwards. Everybody watched as a fissure of darkness split into existence mid-air, and Andy walked straight through it, followed almost immediately by Jack. Morinth and Jacob didn't know what to think, but took deep breaths after a moment before stepping through after the couple. They emerged into yet another battleground; to more Reapers already twitching lifelessly on the ground, and whips of blackness warping fatally around their enemies before disintegrating them.

Jacob quickly pulled his assault rifle to bear and started firing, and Morinth was not far behind; decimating the forces behind them with powerful biotic attacks. The two handling the brunt of forces in front however, were the main focus of everybody and everything on the ground. They tore ruthlessly through the swarms of reaperized Batarians and Turians - even the Brutes and Harvesters were torn asunder by the whips of energy like a hot knife through butter. It took a couple of times jumping through the black fissures in space until it hit the two lower ranked soldiers that Andy and Jack were literally creating wormholes with just their own power, and they silently agreed with Andy's earlier words.

They were terrified of the two biotics.

Such power in two people was petrifying; the ability to tear apart the space-time continuum by mere will alone, and waves of hands. As they continued fighting the reality sunk in even more as Morinth and Jacob watched huge mechanical-organic hybrids towering kilometres above them were crushed by waves of choking black nets of energy; waves of hundreds of enemies decimated by yells that simply exuded dark biotics; beams of light shooting upwards occasionally whereupon huge, blinding spots like stars would burn down upon them as Reapers, fully sized Reapers in orbit, were decimated. Neither of them could fool themselves that they were simply there for anything more than support, and in most cases it wasn't even in combat-capacity - rather taking a moment here or there to calm the allied troops and reassure them that the two beings in front of them were on their side. By the twelfth hour Jacob had seen things that he had thought impossible occur more than he could count. His two team mates were not in any manner, shape, or form human saves from appearance. They were cold, ruthless, impossibly powerful trained killers, and seeing them move as they did, interact as they did, and kill without even the faintest flicker of emotion... it rattled Jacob more than he had ever thought he could be.

They hadn't paused for over fifteen hours when Andy and Jack finally stopped their fluid, lethal movements, and both Morinth and Jacob stared warily at the pair, as did every single solider on their current battlefield. Not a sound came from anywhere, saves for the creaking and crunching as the recently-crushed Reaper Destroyer collapsed further in on itself - even nature itself seemed to pause with halted-breath. Everybody watched as Andy tapped at his Omni-tool for a couple of seconds, and then, for the first time since touching down on the ground, a flicker of emotion zipped across his face. Slowly the flicker solidified as the edges of Andy's mouth twitched upwards, and then continued climbing until he was beaming down at whatever the holographic overlay was telling him.

He raised a hand to his ear, eliciting flinches from everybody saves Jack due to the fact that such small motions had been seen to kill hundreds, and with a small bleep every single soldier on, above, and stationed around Earth found themselves listening to the man himself. "This is Andrew Kronos speaking. As you can probably tell right about now, there's nothing left to fight. Earth is currently secure, and any medical teams in orbit should get groundside as quickly as possible - we may have won the fight, but now we need to rebuild." He could hear cheers in the distance, and continued speaking - effectively cutting off the whooping mid-yell. "Before celebrations begin however, will everybody please take a minute's silence for those that gave their lives for this battle - one billion humans; one thousand Asari; five hundred Turians; seven hundred Salarians..."

Earth had never before observed such silence. All surviving civilians noticed that the soldiers were all standing with bowed heads and followed their example, most of them understanding what was happening even without hearing the military broadcast. Finally Andrew raised his head and gave a small, tired smile before pulling Jack into a hug. Just as the world had never observed such silence, it had never before had such noise. The roar of victory was overwhelming, and in many cases had one country silenced they would have been able to hear the celebrations in those surrounding them.

A drop ship dove down before hovering in front of the pair, and Andy hauled Jack up into the hold before sitting down himself and sinking into the chair. He looked tiredly out at Morinth and Jacob, both whom were still staring at him with distrust, but contrary to looking hurt Andy nodded his understanding and closed the hatch before ordering another transport for the pair. He wouldn't hold it against them; had he been in the same situation he would have been terrified as well. He had to force himself to stay awake for the three minutes it took for the drop-ship to blast open a wormhole and come out by the Normandy, and with the last scraps of energy his fatigued body possessed he picked his sleeping fiancé up in his arms and carried her to the elevator - helped by smiling and welcoming crew members.

He found himself helped into his room by Kelly Chambers and Kenneth Donnelly, and both congratulated him before promptly leaving the pair alone. He activated the clean cycle on both his and his lover's armour, and after several seconds felt all dirt, sweat, and dead material pull itself free of his body to be absorbed by the suit, which quickly fell off of him and Jack leaving them both as naked as the day they were born.

Even completely exhausted he couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the woman in his arms for a moment, but the thought quickly fell out of his mind when his eyes landed on the bed. As soon as the side of his leg touched the mattress he was asleep; collapsing haphazardly sideways with Jack still cradled in his arms. They were lying completely the wrong way on the bed, and the sheets were in no way covering them, but to both of the warriors it was soft, it was safe, and they were home.


	16. The Last Stand

John Shepard looked out across at his combat team with pride. They were all holed up in the communications room for a 'team meeting' but it was just a way for Shepard to get his comrades together. However proud he was however, John Shepard was not in any way stupid. For the past two days he'd seen Morinth and Jacob avoiding Jack and Andy like the plague, and he'd been immensely confused until he confronted the latter after talking to the former proved fruitless. The two biotics had shrugged and told Shepard that their two comrades were scared shitless of them. Shepard hadn't gotten quite why until they showed him the video feed of the battle, and he had to admit that after seeing it even he was a little uncomfortable at the power the two people in front of him held.

He told them so, and they just grinned and shrugged. "We're comfortable with who were are John, and we know that no matter what we'll have each other as well as Izzy and Ellie as companions. If you think about it Izzy and Ellie are actually scarier; both of them could cripple the entire galaxy in less than two minutes, whereas our biotics are limited to, by my calculations, destroying things like the Citadel.

John hadn't bothered to tell the couple that that _really_ wasn't all that comforting, but he had found that the comment both stood true and eased him back into the way he normally acted with them. He supposed it was different for Morinth and Jacob who had actually been there and physically _felt_ the power Andy and Jack diffused, but he was still slightly disappointed. What made him the most proud however, was the fact that everybody was still alive. Not one Normandy crew member had died, and that was saying something.

He was distraught at the civilian casualties, he would never be so heartless as to forget the fifty billion that had been killed in the first Reaper wave, but he was still happy none of the fallen had been his crew. Garrus had taken some shrapnel to the face, but Chakwas had corrected with cybernetics and the Turian was actually rather stoaked with the new eye he had; allowing him almost unmatched abilities in regards magnification and alternate types of vision. He especially liked the heat-vision. Thankfully he hadn't disappeared for three days like he had with the sniper rifle, because if he had then everybody would have been very disturbed.

"Well I called you all here to tell you that the system is immediately clear of Reapers - at least that's what our scans tell us. Unfortunately our comrades in arms haven't been as lucks as we have. The Salarian Fleets report forty percent losses; Turian fifty; Asari seventy," everybody looked to a rather distraught Liara at this statistic, and Shepard walked over and sat down to bring her into a comforting one-armed hug. Nobody commented on it; it had gotten to the point where affection was actively sought out as people knew that they could die on this mission, and nobody wanted to die alone. "The human fleets report thirty percent losses. We're down by a lot, but we're winning."

Andy winced, and Shepard saw the minute action. His attention was immediately riveted on his Executive Officer, and Andy sighed when he saw the look on Shepard's face. Everybody else turned their attention to Andy when they heard the sudden expulsion of breath, and people started getting very worried when the saw they almost _defeated_ look on his face. "We killed how many Reapers Shepard?"

"We've got reports of two hundred."

"Right," Andy said with another sigh, "two hundred. Otrere last visited Dark Space three cycles ago. When he was last there the Reaper Fleet numbered five thousand."

Dead, unbreakable silence.

Horror was on everybody's faces, and Andy looked around looking pained. "I only realized after this battle just how hopeless our current tactics are. Sure we're doing well for ourselves. We're doing better than any other race before us in fact, but the fact remains that we lost twenty percent of our total forces in this attack. That's one wave. Of two hundred. For them to exhaust their entire fleet it'd take twenty five waves of the same size - and that's using Otrere's _old_ figure. Each cycle generally produces five hundred more Reapers, so that means that their fleet's at around six thousand three hundred strong. That's thirty one waves total to kill them all of." The helplessness of the entire situation started to sink in to everybody present, and Andy looked tiredly around before letting out an explosive breath and shaking his head sounding almost distraught. "God fucking DAMNIT! Only two fucking hundred of the fucks?"

Jack tentatively rubbed his back trying to comfort him, but even her face was a mask of worry. She'd never seen her fiancé so distraught before in her entire life, and it terrified her. He was her hope, and without that she felt like she'd collapse back in on herself and become the person she once was. She hated that person. She never wanted to be like that ever again. "There's got to be something, right?" she asked quietly so that only he could hear, and he seemed to sag as he nodded. Jack could feel the terror in her chest intensify, because the sagging wasn't one of relief - it was one of resignation.

Andy slowly raised his head and looked at everybody in the room; his eyes seeming almost dead. People recoiled from the expression in shock, and Andy buried his head in his hands before nodding. "There is something I can do. I hoped it wouldn't come to this - God I hoped so, so much."

Shepard stared at his friend with fear in his eyes. "Andy..."

Andy just shook his head at Shepard and raised his eyes to meet the man who at one time had just been a game character to him. He memorized everything about him; the way his hair was mussed in a very un-Commander-like way; the exact shade of green his eyes were; the way he stood leaning forwards slightly with worry. He was his friend. He was like a brother, and he'd gotten so used to having him around that what he was planning made his heart clench. He looked to Tali and Kar who were staring at him with wide eyes, and the latter was shaking his head while muttering the word "No," under his breath.

Kar had barged in on Andy at one point when he was planning for this very scenario, but he'd only gotten a glimpse of the strategic blueprints before Andy had swiped them away and greeted him as if nothing was the matter. Now it all started making sense in a way it had never made sense before, and Kar didn't like it. Tali looked terrified at the way Andy was acting; her silvery eyes actually dulled slightly with fear. Liara, still leaning against Shepard, looked as resigned as Andy did. She had always guessed that Andy had a contingency plan and that it likely wouldn't end well for him. The way he was acting at that moment confirmed her long-held suspicions and made her feel as if somebody had just torn her heart out of her chest. While Andy and Jack had at first just been workmates she had slowly become closer to them until she thought of them as the brother and sister she'd never had.

Certainly Jack she considered an _annoying_ sister, but a sister all the same.

Thane and Garrus had the same look on their faces, albeit adapted for their species. They both knew that sacrifice was the only reason Andy would be so completely sullen, but they were soldiers and understood the harsh realities of life. Garrus was internally distraught, but he knew that Andy just seeing the despair on everybody else's faces was causing him more pain, and so strove to stay stoic - even if inside his stomach sunk. Both Andy and Jack had become close friends of his. Without Andy pushing him to be more social he'd never have come out of the funk he'd been in until he'd hunted down Sidonis, and he knew that that path was a dark one. He thought of Andy and Jack, as most of the close-knit Combat Crew did, as his brother and sister. They were funny, easy to talk to, and completely calm under pressure. He would trust them with his life without a flicker of hesitation. He held them in the same regard he held Shepard, and earning such respect from Garrus was not an easy achievement.

Miranda looked as if she was about to burst into tears, and Andy quickly winced and looked away - he was close to tears himself and looking at her for too long would break the hold he had over his emotions. Joker looked saddened beyond all belief, but gave Andy a deeply respectful nod of complete and utter veneration. Andy sent the red-haired pilot a warm, thankful smile, and got a tip of the cap in return. Ellie and Izzy knew his plans, and gave him dual, firm nods. The message was clear; he wasn't doing this alone.

He felt both pride and despair at their choice, but he couldn't sway them. He knew that. Then came the hardest person to look at. He looked at the young woman sat right beside him, and winced at the determined but saddened expression on her face. "You're not leaving without me," she muttered as she grabbed his head and pulled his forehead to hers; staring him dead in the eye. "If you leave me here and go off alone I _will_ commit suicide. And this time I won't fail. We live together and die together - till death do us part. I _am_ coming with you to do whatever it is you have to do. I will be beside you every step of the way."

A tear rolled unbidden from his eye, and she reached up and swiped it off his cheek. "Andy, there's got to be another way," a strangled, hopeful plead came from opposite, and Andrew turned his head to Shepard before shaking his head sharply. "I know of no other way. This is the best chance we have."

"And you'll die? How is that the best chance we've got? Look at what you've done for us so far!"

"I can't take you any further," Andy replied firmly, his resolve sharpening as he felt Jack's fingers curl around his own, "I can only do this. It must be done immediately - before the Reapers send another wave to fight here."

"But surely-"

"_Now_, Shepard," Andy interrupted with a small glare, and the man was about to complain again when he saw the utter pain behind the confirmation of his decision in Andy's eyes. His mouth snapped shut when he realized just how hard this decision was for one of his best friends and gave a defeated sigh himself before nodding.

"John! How can you give in like that?" Miranda yelled, and Andy physically blanched at the sound of utter sadness in her voice.

"Because he must," Samara finally interjected, "because Andy has a Code just like I have. He is bound by his morality; by his promises to keep you all safe; the galaxy from destruction. All of your attempts to keep him here are simply making him hurt more." Miranda turned to Andy and jerked back when she saw Jack hugging him to her breast and whispering down into his ear sweet nothings in an attempt to calm him down. Contrary to what Jack would have done mere months ago she didn't blow out at Miranda and glare for making her fiancé upset.

She understood her pain of losing a friend - only she wouldn't be losing anything. She would be going with him; standing by his side as he made his sacrifice and complete it alongside him without remorse or fear. She would never be separated from Andy; she knew that deep in her heart. It was the only thing keeping her anywhere near calm at that moment.

There was a silence, permeated only by a low, inaudible conversation between Andy and Jack, and everybody's eyes were fixed on the pair. Jack's voice rose a couple of times with incredulity and shock, but still their words remained private, despite the fact that every single person witnessing the talk wanted to know just what the hell was going on. Jacob and Morinth stared at the couple, conflicted, though the latter was releasing her fear and hostility towards the two biotics far faster than Jacob. She knew what it felt like to be hated and feared because of what she could do, and after thinking about it for a couple of seconds she found herself herself ashamed of her actions over the past few days - and immensely saddened.

She knew why the two were so withdrawn in their talking, so clearly struggling with their emotions despite others watching, and felt guilt settle quite firmly in her gut. She could have had more time with the man that had saved her life, and whom she thought of as a brother; could have had more time joking around with the laid-back Jack whom she considered one of her best girlfriends - in a purely platonic manner of course, and yet she had swindled that priceless time away doing unto them as others had once done unto her.

Finally Jack and Andy nodded against each other's foreheads, and the former took in a deep breath before breaking away and leaning forwards in his chair; his expression firm and unwavering - filled with confidence and surety. "Okay, we're going to need a drop ship with one of the Big Mummas installed into it." He saw Joker about to protest but waved his hand airily. "Thresholds and safety regulations are not a problem; Jack and I'll be able to control the resultant pressure." Joker closed his mouth, nodded, and quickly begun tapping on his Omni-tool to see the task done immediately by those down on the engineering deck. Andy walked over to him and sat down, still making sure not to look at Miranda who looked tearful, and begun murmuring in low tones instructions for the mechanics.

Jack looked to Shepard, and the Commander gave her his full attention, as did most of the room. "The Mass Relays are unneeded now with the wormhole technology we have. You need to evacuate all systems where they are, and then blow them the fuck up."

Liara jumped to her feet in shock, her eyes wide. "But the home worlds-"

"It's either that or more death, squiddie." The young Asari was too shocked to even react to her most hated nickname, even if Jack meant it to be affectionate. "The galaxy can be moved around a bit; planets that were previously uninhabitable are easily colonized with the current technology. Destroy every single relay except the Omega Four. Then assemble every single ship remaining around it; weapons charged and ready. The Reapers will be planning on sending another wave of equal size, and so there'll be about two hundred prepared to mobilize. Andy and I won't have time to stop them, and we'll want to conserve all the energy we have for what we have to do. You'll get another two hundred Reapers, but with them coming through at a single point you shouldn't have too much trouble."

Andy re-joined Jack and nodded as he heard the last of the conversation. "Right; they'll be bunched up," he continued, "and ready to be blown out of the sky. The reason for this is because Jack and I are going to detonate the Reaper Station; their central hub. Since they're all attached to it, save the next wave, and docking and release procedures are carefully ingrained within their systems we should be able to take out those docked, which will hopefully be all except the two hundred ready to attack again. As soon as we appear on their scanners those ships are going to scramble in both a bid for survival, and to win the war by making one last stand against the Milky Way - just as we are. They'll come through, and Jack, Ellie, Izzy, and I will take out the rest."

"And you'll die."

Andy looked across at Jacob and nodded. "Yes, and we'll die. Their Citadel, and I call it that because it looks like the Citadel, is huge. Likely twenty times as large as the one here. Jack and I might be able to crush the Citadel with our biotics, but it would be impossible to do the same to theirs. We will have to corrupt their energy systems with our energy, and try and hijack it before inducing an overload. With our power and theirs combined it'll be like a super-bomb. Nothing will be left, and everything will be atomized."

Jacob didn't know what to say to that. Even though he was a soldier he knew he wouldn't be able to so easily talk about sacrificing himself as Andy was. It was all he needed, that last little push, for his fear of them to drop away. They were talking about dying to save _him_, as well as everybody else in the Galaxy. He sent Andy a small nod, and then the same to Jack and both gave a small, almost imperceptible smile back. Shepard looked up from his Omni-tool and nodded at Jack's raised eyebrow. "Evacuation has begun. Faith and Daniel have been listening in, so they're co-ordinating everything for the best chances. Apparently," he looked down to his display, "twenty three cruiser-class military vessels will be deployed - one to each Relay. The moment the system is evacuated they'll fire."

Andy nodded once in acknowledgement and then turned to Joker. "Two hours," the red-head informed him, "even with the Nano-tech helping out. It's a huge undertaking getting a core that big into such a small ship."

Andy chuckled, though only the tiniest trace of humour was present. "Understandable. Well then... Jack and I need to go and get ready." He stood and everybody realized from the tone in his voice and the way he was moving precisely what he meant. His last hours were up, and he wanted to spend them with the love of his life. Despite Morinth and Jacob wanting to apologise they knew that it was, in part, a selfish thing to do; wanting to get the guilt of their chests and resolved. They decided completely independent of each other that they would not deprive their friends; their family in all but blood, of their last living hours together. Nobody made to stop them, and Andy guided Jack out of the room; his arm around her waist and the young woman leaning into his side.

Word spread within mere minutes that the most influential, powerful, and knowledgeable founders of the New Age were preparing for a suicide mission to stop the Reaper threat, and the entire crew found themselves in a state of not knowing what to do. The only people that were moving around were those working on modifying the Kodiak Drop Ship, the rest were in small groups staring silently at points on walls and floors as they thought long and hard about just what this meant, and what they were going to do.

The Combat Team was not exempt from this and had gathered in the Mess; all sitting at the same table with complete silence. Everybody wanted to stalk into the biotics' room and tell them that they weren't doing it, but they knew that that course of action would have one of two possible outcomes. They would be firmly rejected, and if they decided to push it then they would be forcefully removed. The firmness in Andy and Jack's eyes when they left the meeting room told them precisely just how set on their course of action they were. Ellie and Izzy had shed their physical bodies in favour of dedicating all their processing power to deciding whether or not they wished to make a back-up copy of themselves on the Normandy systems in case they didn't return.

An hour later they finally decided to not do so; their backups would never be _them_, and there was no way they were going to let their two creators and friends go alone on their mission. Inside the bedroom Jack was curled up against Andy on the bed; both clad only in their underwear. It was through silent agreement that sex wasn't needed, and that the only joining intimate enough was complete biotic synchronisation. Waves of black and blue energy shimmered over the surface of their skin, bridging onto their partner where their skin touched. Their immersion was complete; more intense than even an Asari mind-meld. For the time they held their energies in sync they were one; completely unshielded from the other. Their thoughts; their dreams; their fears; everything was bared completely open to their lover. Nothing was sacred.

Slowly the energy died down until it seemed to sink into their skin and disappear, and their eyes opened at the same time. Jack turned around so she could see Andy, and found him smiling warmly down at her. "If I knew you were into _that_ then I would've done it for you!"

He laughed lightly with a small blush and shrugged. "There's no need, especially now. I have all I want right here, and I'll have it the moment we die as well."

Her teasing smile softened and she kissed his collarbone. "It's nearly time."

"I know."

They were silent for several minutes, until Jack finally asked the question that had been bugging her ever since he had told her the plan. "What happens after?" He looked down at her, his left eyebrow raised, and she huffed with frustration. "I mean after we die. Is there anything afterwards? Are we going to still be together? Is there a heaven and hell? What's going to happen?"

Andy's brow relaxed and he wrapped his arm tighter around her as he looked at the ceiling above them. "I don't know. To be honest I don't care, just so long as I'm with you in some way. And if there is a heaven, or a hell, and I don't find you waiting for me then I'll tell whichever one I end up in to fuck off and go to the other one."

She grinned up at him, "Right, so you'll tell the man at the Pearly Gates to fuck off and join me in hell?"

Andy shrugged with a grin down at her, "Always been a bit of a rebel. Telling heaven to go screw itself probably doesn't happen too often. 'Sides, if I had to hazard a guess we'd both go to hell if it exists. Maybe we can fuck up some demons."

She laughed throatily, her genuine laugh, and shuffled around for a moment before sitting up and swinging her legs off the side of the bed; looking over her bare shoulder to peer at him; a warm smile on her blood-red lips. "Lucy won't know what the fuck hit him. We can stage a coup."

Andy chuckled as he stepped into his morphic armour, which quickly established itself over his body. "The Biotic Duo take Hell... has a nice ring to it. I get to run the ninth circle though."

"I bags the seventh!"

He laughed again and walked around to hug her, moving from foot to foot in a sort of slow dance. "Whatever, just so long as I get to come home to you each day."

Her joking ceased and a calm smile spread over her face. "Yeah."

They swayed to inaudible music for what felt like hours but in reality was only minutes until Andy's Omni-tool beeped, and he peered down at the message interface that popped up. "Ship's ready."

She nodded and took a deep breath, and reluctantly extracted herself from his arms, but quickly grabbed his hand to compensate for the lack of contact. He grinned before taking a deep breath himself, and the pair walked out of their room for the final time. It felt almost ethereal; as if it wasn't truly happening. A small crowd awaited them outside their doors, and both Jack and Andy gave small smiles and nods of thanks and friendship to those that patted them on the back and wished them luck and farewell.

They entered the elevator in silence, and travelled down to the Cargo Bay. When the doors open they discovered where the majority of the crew were. All murmuring stopped the moment they appeared, and Andy shifted uncomfortably before walking out hand-in-hand with his finance. Sad smiles followed them as the crowd parted to allow them passage, and small murmurs of thanks and appreciation followed their progress. Kelly Chambers stepped out and gave both of them a hug as they passed and so too did the cleaner whose daughter Andy had saved. Finally they reached the Drop Ship and found their closes friends waiting with smiles - even if they were defeated and saddened.

Andy squeezed Jack's hand before breaking away and making his way towards the still-distraught Miranda, and the young biotic smiled when she saw her fiancé hug the ex-Cerberus cheerleader. She herself made her way over to Samara, and the Justicar smiled before embracing her and whispering how proud she was to call her friend. The couple made their way around their small non-blood family until both reached Shepard simultaneously.

The Saviour of the Citadel; Defeater of Saren; first Human Spectre, stared at them both with a wavering expression; torn between almost breaking into tears and making their last moments happy. He finally settled on the latter, and a small smile twitched at his lips. He hugged them both at the same time, and the couple looked at each other over their friend's shoulders with matching smiles as they hugged him back. "I know nothing is going to stop you two from going," he said as he pulled away with a subtle sniff, "so I'll just say this: no matter where you are, no matter what you do, no matter _when_... you'll always have a brother in me - a family in us." He motioned around to everybody, and Andy smiled while Jack lowered her head with a blush and a small sniff.

"And the same applies to you," Andy returned with a firm nod and smile, "brother in arms and all but blood."

"I would do the whole blood-brother thing, but then Garrus'd want in and we all know how badly that'd end."

Garrus snorted with laughter, and Jack lifted her head and smirked at the Turian she'd come to love as a brother - teasing very much included. Slowly smiles faded and Andy looked down at his wrist where the time was displayed. "It's time."

The entire room that had been filled with low murmurs silenced, and Andy looked around at everybody with a small smile before turning to Jack and holding out his hand. She smiled and took it, but a moment later stopped what they were doing when two forms walked through the crowd towards them. Izzy's vibrant red hair stood out among the crowd as her and Ellie approached hand in hand, and they stopped just short of the pair before smiling. "We're coming with you."

Andy nodded and didn't try to dissuade them in the slightest. He knew that they would have thought it over for the equivalent time of years due to their massive processing power, and if they had come to this decision then anything he said wouldn't change what they had settled upon. "I have trained one of the Shuttle AIs to take over my responsibilities on the Normandy," Ellie informed Shepard with a small smile, and then turned to Joker before walking up to him and pulling him into a firm hug. "For the love of the Goddess, Jeff, please don't do anything I wouldn't."

Joker grinned as she pulled away, and forced himself to pout. "No fair, that means I'll just have to pilot the ship and go all philosophical!"

There were some muted laughs from around the crowded bay, and the two AIs made the rounds saying goodbye to the Combat Crew before leaving their artificial bodies which quickly reverted to two solid rods as they took their places fully on Andy and Jack's Omni-tools. Andy and Jack checked the uploads and downloads they had been making, synchronizing all data they had in their private servers with their Omni-tools, and then lowered their arms before intertwining their fingers and smiling at each other, and then out at the Normandy Crew. "It's been a pleasure folks," Andy muttered sadly but with appreciation in his eyes, and murmurs of reciprocation were returned. They were just about to turn around and step into the shuttle when both their Omni-tools beeped, and they peered downwards; their eyebrows rising when they saw a whole list of requested connections.

"We wanted you to carry something of us with you," Liara said quietly, but in such a way that her voice carried all throughout the hanger, "we all put together pictures, messages, favourite songs... things to remember us by - so that you know that we are with you to the very end. Most people also wrote letters or recorded messages for you - we hope it will keep you busy while you travel into Dark Space."

Jack looked a little tearful, no small feat, while Andy beamed a watery smile at them all before bowing slightly at the waist. "Until we see each other next then," he said calmly, "wherever that may be." Another round of embraces followed, including for both Jack and Andy very tight ones and whispered apologies and good-lucks from Morinth and Jacob.

Andy knew that his resolve was wearing thin and so nodded sharply to himself before pulling himself into the shuttle and then, with one last look out at the members of his family in all but blood, he closed the hatch. Both biotics sat down on the comfortable leather chairs, side-by-side, their fingers clasped together. They felt the slight weight increase as the shuttle lifted, and then nothing as it accelerated out into space through the airlock. Silence permeated the cabin as they rocketed through space and the only sounds that broke it was their slow breathing and the small thump as they entered a wormhole in front of them.

"Three years ago," Jack broke out, "I couldn't have believed what I would be right now, what I would be doing either in fact."

"I don't think I could either," Andy shot back, and she grinned a little.

"I am a happily married, extremely powerful, and content biotic. I have friends, family, a life, hope... and now I am about to sacrifice my life in order to save the entire Galaxy. Two years ago I would have killed anybody that said something like that - let alone insinuate I'd be the one doing it."

Andy didn't respond because he didn't need to. Their melding mere minutes ago lingered fresh in each other's minds, and she knew what his response would be to what she was saying. Somehow saying what she had aloud however, made her thoughts more solid. "We are coming up to the Omega-4 rely," came the voice of Ellie who was temporarily piloting the shuttle, and Andy nodded before snapping himself into the safety harness, making sure that Jack was securely locked in as he did so. Andy knew the authorization codes off by heart; Otrere's memories had allowed him that, and he transferred the IFF marker onto the shuttle's on-board transmitter.

He looked out the window at the approaching relay; its alpha energy swirling a deep red , and he realized that this was what Shepard had seen in the game. He was glad his brother hadn't had to experience it in real life; it was daunting. He watched as a tendril of the energy snapped into being; tethering their ship inescapably to its course, and Andy gritted his teeth before closing his eyes and focussing on the energies he and Jack were sharing across the touching skin of their hands. The jolt that followed would have snapped any normal spine in half with the force, and the doors buckled inwards with the pressure of sudden acceleration.

They could literally feel the saturating energy carrying them to where the Reapers resided; it almost consumed their minds several times; the indoctrination pushing in on them, but their power was too much for it to break through and they held steady; their brows beaded with sweat, their faces creased with effort, but holding all the same.

They travelled for hours, which was truly saying something considering the extra energy their enlarged power core was putting into the task, until with a gut-wrenching pull they emerged on the other side; a place where no organic had ever before seen. Both opened their eyes, and then passed a film of biotics across them as the four supernovas held in suspended animation tried to burn into their retina. Andy pushed a protective film across the ship as well to stop it from getting damaged from the intense pressures and heat, and they stared out upon the Reaper stronghold.

It hung in space like a glittering gem, and yet the waves of malicious power and the thousands of Reapers ships docked within and on it; latched on like leeches, turned the entire spectacle into a macabre construct that reeked of death and destruction. The four supernovas, in the very beginning stages of exploding, expelled the heat of a hundred Sols and their fiery eruptions were halted mid-detonation, creating a fence-like wall of fire around the Reaper Station.

And they were heading right towards it.

Both looked out of the window; their hearts thumping like rabbits' in their chests, and their hands clenched almost painfully together. Seeing what they were supposed to destroy right in front of them was nothing like talking about it. Just as they were about to land on the surface of the huge structure; the outer layer as black as obsidian, Jack gasped as she looked out the opposite window.

The Reapers that were prepared for the next wave of attack had unclamped themselves from their home and had begun moving towards the glowing red orb of energy contained within the Reaper Relay. While seeing such a sight made both of them fear for their friends on the opposite end of the relay they could also feel the fear radiating outwards from the huge Reaper construct. With a loud thump their own docking clamps attached to the inside of one of the huge arms, and Ellie immediately jumped to Jack's Omni-tool for safety's sake.

There was no time to waste - every second increased the risk that more Reapers would detach and head toward the relay, and they couldn't afford to risk the lives of their friends and family.

The door hissed open partially before freezing, and Andy had to kick it off to escape; the material too bent out of shape to open itself. Jack followed, her eyes glowing gold through her mask, and black energy licking across her body to protect her from the harsh environment they had just stepped into.

And then they ran.

Any closer to the core of the huge citadel was a death-sentence for the shuttle, even with its advanced Nano-protections, and so using huge bursts of energy the pair charged across the smooth surfaces lining each of the arms' edges. They managed to get half-way to the thrumming central point of the construct before they were attacked, and both had to leap out of the way of a huge, atomizing beam of yellow plasma.

When Andy peered around his cover to see just what in the Milky Way had attacked them he knew immediately what it was. The mutated creature almost made him gag, and such a thing was almost impossible to achieve. Chunks of flesh hung from the glowing ribcage of the abomination, and the entire creature towered at least twenty times Andy's own height. The little flesh it still retained was yellowed with toxic decay and infection, and venom dripped from the gaping maw and terrifying fangs that sat within its small head.

"What the FUCK is that thing Andy?"

The beast let out a harrowing scream fuelled by potent yellow energy, and both lovers ducked down as a lethal shockwave blasted past their position. "It's a Butcher," he yelled over the sound of the mind-numbing shrieks of fury, "at least that's what it translates to. They were used by the Protheans in their meat works. Hence why they're such big strong fuckers!"

Another wave of energy burst past their position and Andy popped out right after it passed, clenching his fist and reducing the creature to a splatter of gore on the spotless surface of the huge ship. Several more poured out of seemingly nowhere and Jack jumped up beside Andy before swiping her hand violently across the group and beginning to run once more. Andy sprinted to catch up, and found his fiancé grinning sadistically as she cut through swathes of horrifying abominations and reduced them to nothing.

As they moved slowly closer and closer to the center of the huge construct the enemies only increased and became more powerful. It was when they were merely minutes away from their goal that they met their hardest opponent. Andy heard his morphic armour issue an alert and he looked hurriedly down at his feet, only to find silver creeping up his legs. "Fuck!" With a powerful blast he fried the mysterious liquid, and his suit absorbed what was left - parsing the information through to Izzy and Ellie.

"Nanotechnology," the latter revealed after a moment, "not quite at the level of ours, but dangerous all the same."

"Goddamn it Andy I thought you said that they didn't use it!" Jack yelled angrily across to her lover, and Andy shook his head - before his eyes caught sight of something slowly approaching.

Preceded by a puddle of silver.

"Shit," he muttered as the features begun to make themselves clear, "they have Heliodroids?" He looked at the synthetic and reaperized construction of the eons-old piece of technology and turned to Jack seriously. "We need to get rid of this thing as fast as we can, before more come. One will be hard enough."

"Hard, Andy I doubt-"

She cut herself off when he threw a massive wave of dark energy at the thing, and dropped her jaw when she saw the being simply step through it completely unharmed. "The only reason it can do that is by locking into the energy lines of this entire station," he explained as he junctioned his biotics into his muscles, "and its only its small size that makes it feasible... but it's doing it. We go in hard and fast Jack, physical blows only to make sure we don't waste any more energy than we have to, okay?"

She nodded firmly and blasted forwards; a blur of dark blue rippling behind her as she collapsed the space-time continuum and at the very same time Andy burst forwards as well - intent on ending the existence of the creature in front of him. The ancient Heliodroid, however, was not an easy target like their other opponents. Their biotic attacks, despite the fact that they could crush entire cities with them, were simply waved aside by the being.

Jack punched and kicked furiously in an attempt to injure the droid, but it was all for naught, and she yelled in pain when a thick shard of nanobots jabbed right into her arm before beginning to spread inside her very body. The seconds it took her to isolate the invading presence and eject it was enough for the indoctrinated AI to kick her off her feet and send her sailing down the ship - in an almost comically powerful manner. Andy wasn't laughing though. He forced his energy into his brain to speed up his reaction times and thought processes, and the battle evolved into one even more dangerous; one based on pure strategy and timing.

Andy finally managed to short the bionic construction out for a mere millisecond by forcing his biotic energy into its systems, and that was enough for him to gain complete control. He could feel the entire network of circuitry inside the Heliodroid, and because he knew what he was looking for it only took a moment for him to isolate the self-destruction code and activate it. He dove for cover, tackling the charging Jack along with him, and not a moment too soon.

A wave of searing heat and light washed over their position behind a dark black panel as their opponent fell to its own defences, and Andy peered over the top after a moment before cursing and dragging Jack up. When she saw at least ten more Heliodroids she cursed angrily as well, but immediately followed her fiancé when he used his biotic charge to blast through their ranks; speeding towards the center of the huge space station and paying no heed to the defences activating in their wake.

Despite the massive drain on biotics that such charges used it was nothing to the unleashed pair. The only reason they weren't using wormholes was because of the massive amounts of Reaper energy resonating around them; to try and manipulate the space-time continuum in such a way with unknown and wild variables would be a very foolhardy idea. They travelled for nearly ten minutes using their biotics; the shockwaves behind them washing visibly against the sides of the arm of the citadel-like station they were running down, but had to slow when they came to the huge, cavernous clearing at the very base of the Reaper Station.

Where the Citadel simply had a hollow ring to allow for it to be a relay, the Reaper Station's base was solid ground, and covered in trophies. It looked like a macabre graveyard; filled with relics of past, annihilated races. To Andy it seemed almost ironic; creatures so certain that organic life was a blight and a danger exhibited such things as _trophies_ of their conquests.

"They're coming," Jack warned, and Andy looked over his shoulder to see a swarm of abominations a mere couple of minutes back from their position. Looking across at all the other arms he saw the same thing, only in far greater number, and he pulled Jack forcefully forwards onto the graveyard. They sprinted to the center, and over the noise of the roars of the monsters converging on them Jack yelled out, "What are we doing?"

"To the centre!" he yelled back, "And then we crush this place! If we contaminate the lay-lines with our power then we should be able to detonate this place!"

An almost unhinged laugh reached his ears in reply, and he looked to Jack. Her eyes were wide and tears were streaming out of them, and her smile was anguished. "Why did it have to be us? I wanted to _live_ with you!"

He jerked to a halt and grabbed her around the waist, and she found herself looking right into his electric-blue eyes, his expression deadly serious. "No matter what, no matter what happens and where we end up, I _am_ with you. I remember somebody once saying 'without you heaven would be hell, and with you even hell would be heaven'. I think that. We're together for an eternity Jack. We'll still get to live together, even if it's a different type of living."

He wiped the tears off her cheeks with the pad of his thumb and she smiled wetly up at him before nodding and then crashing her lips to his. Her desperation was contagious, and as she held herself as close to him as possible he reciprocated. Despite the saltiness from her tears he furiously memorized her taste, and could feel her own tongue tangling with his in an attempt to get the same.

However much both of them wanted to continue their last kiss and firm embrace it had to end. The Reaper's monsters were getting too close, and they could little afford facing an army of Heliodroids if they still wanted energy to do what they came to do. Andy moved to unravel his arms from his fiancé, but found himself pulled back against her instead. "If we're doing this," she all but growled up at him, "I want to hold you. I don't care if because of that my fucking skin melts off; if I die, it's in your arms and with you in mine."

He smiled down at her and nodded before tightening his arms around her, and she sighed contentedly before closing her eyes and resting her cheek on his chest; the armour there hard at first, but softening when it recognized her DNA; thinning until she could hear the furious thundering of his heart. "You ready for this?"

She nodded, and he could feel her hot breath burn against his chest. "Yeah. I love you."

He smiled down at her and pecked the top of her scalp before resting his chin there and closing his eyes as well. "I love you too, always Jack."

And then he began. The Reapers that were watching looked in fear, and for many of them such an emotion was completely new. Waves of golden energy flowed off of Andy, and soon after as Jack's biotics synchronised with his her body as well. The waves were so intense; so powerful and all-encompassing that it rippled across the entire graveyard; lighting it up a golden glow. As soon as the ripples reached the outer edges however, every single being, monstrous or otherwise, bore witness to hundreds of thousands of tendrils rising from the layer of energy; thickening and writhing with pure power and a restlessness that made all of the Reapers still docked reroute all processing power to fulfilling the requirements to leave their moorings. For once their need for synthetic perfection was the bane of their existence.

After nearly an entire minute, just as the abominations reached the edge of the base of the station, without any warning whatsoever, the vines of biotics rose; poised, and then stabbed into the ground. The results were instantaneous. The entire station shook as the energy pathways were compromised and corrupted, and both biotics groaned with the effort of keeping up the flow of their energies into that of the Reaper Station. Sweat rolled off them like rivers, only to be assimilated by their slowly deteriorating morphic armour. The air around them was so saturated with their energies that the first abomination to cross the threshold onto the graveyard was simultaneously flayed and burned alive. The Reapers latched onto the arms of the station screeched in agony as more and more of the corrupted energy was fed into them, slowly poisoning their means of life and forcing their systems to malfunction.

And in the middle of it all were the two biotics, still clutching each other furiously as they sweated, cried, and yelled in pain and effort. Both could feel their reserves dwindling for the first time in their entire existences as unleashed biotics, and in comparison to the exhaustion they experienced when they were simply normal biotics it was a hundred times worse. It felt like their very insides were boiling, and black encroached on their minds as their bodies were slowly damaged by the unfathomable amounts of power they were forcing out of themselves.

It was at the very moment that their power was at the precipice of taking over that it happened. Their biotics slowed to a halt, finally reaching an equilibrium with the Reaper's dark energy, and Andy cracked open his eyes; bloody tears clouding his vision until he blinked them away. The dark red energy that had covered the gaps between the armour of the station was now tinted a muddy gold, but the systems weren't his or Jack's; their biotics had failed them. Just one, tiny little push more and they would have had the 'immortal' machines; just one, little bit more of pure energy into the network underneath their feet and it would set off a chain reaction of destruction - but he had nothing left, only just able to sustain what they had accomplished already. "No," he croaked out in complete and utter frustration, "no this can't be for nothing!"

He could feel Jack shaking against him, with mixed parts effort and sobs, and his eyes jerked around in their sockets in an attempt to find anything, anything at all that would help them give that last little bit of a boost. Relics of ages and empires past shone back at him through the golden haze, and nothing caught his eye until he saw a stone pillar nearly three times as tall as he was peeking out from behind the statue of the Krosak King.

With the amount of time he'd poured over a pillar identical to that in his memories, or rather the Illusive Man's, it was no wonder he found his gaze stuck on it. In reality the Prothean beacon looked far more majestic and mysterious than it had in the memories of the man who had brought him to this universe. It was almost metallic-looking; a deep blue colour with light green, luminescent markings that covered it.

Andy stumbled towards it, and Jack, not expecting the movement, collapsed onto the ground with a cry. With his eyes burning and his body complaining Andy leaned down and hauled her back to her feet before dragging her with him, and she hugged his arm to her chest as she forced herself to continue providing energy into the energy matrix of the station. She looked up through tired, red-rimmed eyes when he jerked to a stop after nearly two minutes of agonizing shuffling, and sucked in a sharp breath when she beheld the artefact in front of them.

It towered over their heads; an obelisk of immense power both could tell, and Andy pulled her back into his arms before sinking to the ground. His back rested against the hard surface of the Prothean relic, and he held Jack's head against his chest. Within their biotic envelope the roars of fury from the abominations and the screeches of pain from the Reapers were silenced, and he gasped as a new wave of pain ran through his body. "T-the beacon," he managed to grind out between his teeth, "I-if I activate it..." She nodded with understanding into his chest, whimpering with pain, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead; a single, bloody tear falling from his cheek onto her scalp. "I love you. I'll never leave you."

He vaguely heard her sob and say, "I love you too Andy, I'll be with you," as he redirected a small packet of energy into the stone behind him, and then all either of them knew was the presence of the other and pure, untainted energy pouring into them in an overwhelming flood. Their skin begun smoking as the heat of the emissions tried to denature their very cells, and their morphic armour begun charring and deteriorating even faster. Andy felt a tug on his navel, as if somebody had strapped something around his spine and was pulling, and he opened his eyes - his vision immediately assaulted with a blinding light that he could only just see through. A small, peaceful smile crossed his bloody lips when he saw the entire station pulse that perfect gold, and then with a huge crashing sensation, a deafening rushing in his ears, a sense of falling, and a scream tearing itself from his throat Andrew White's world went black, and he knew no more.


End file.
